Aramco, Petronas Launch Corporate Identity of Joint Ventures

 Abdulaziz Judaimi, Senior Vice President, Downstream, Saudi Aramco; Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, Executive Vice President Downstream, PETRONAS; Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & CEO, PETRONAS; Amin Nasser, President & CEO, Saudi Aramco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Abdulaziz Judaimi, Senior Vice President, Downstream, Saudi Aramco; Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, Executive Vice President Downstream, PETRONAS; Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & CEO, PETRONAS; Amin Nasser, President & CEO, Saudi Aramco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Aramco, Petronas Launch Corporate Identity of Joint Ventures

 Abdulaziz Judaimi, Senior Vice President, Downstream, Saudi Aramco; Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, Executive Vice President Downstream, PETRONAS; Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & CEO, PETRONAS; Amin Nasser, President & CEO, Saudi Aramco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Abdulaziz Judaimi, Senior Vice President, Downstream, Saudi Aramco; Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, Executive Vice President Downstream, PETRONAS; Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & CEO, PETRONAS; Amin Nasser, President & CEO, Saudi Aramco (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Aramco and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) launched on Tuesday the corporate identity for their joint ventures in the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) located in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia, namely Pengerang Refining Company Sdn Bhd (PRefChem Refining) and Pengerang Petrochemical Company Sdn Bhd (PRefChem Petrochemical)*2, collectively known as “PRefChem”.

Earlier in March, PETRONAS and Saudi Aramco concluded the Share Purchase Agreement for equal ownership and participation in the operations of the refinery, cracker and selected petrochemical facilities in the PIC.

A ceremony was held at the complex which also saw the unveiling of PRefChem’s logo, and it was attended by President and CEO of Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser, President and CEO of PETRONAS Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, Executive Vice President Downstream of PETRONAS Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, as well as other officials.

Speaking at the occasion, Amin Nasser stated that it marks an important milestone for this joint venture project, which is an integral part of Saudi Aramco’s refining and fuels marketing and chemicals business strategies and will help in strengthening the company’s growth position in Southeast Asia through crude supply and world-scale downstream operations.

This venture also closely aligns with Aramco's downstream strategy to invest in a global refining and petrochemicals system of world-scale manufacturing complexes in key regions with participated refining capacity of eight to 10 million barrels per day by 2030, he added.

"We are committed to help enhance the area’s prosperity and look forward to this new stage of cooperation with our valued partner PETRONAS," asserted Nasser.

CEO Nasser explained that Malaysia provides a great opportunity for Aramco’s downstream portfolio expansion in Asia and PRefChem’s strategic location in Pengerang will clearly position the country as a prolific regional energy hub, at the same time serve to enhance energy security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Also, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee spoke at the event describing the integrated partnership as a "visionary move by two professionally-run national oil companies where both are able to leverage on each other’s strengths and share technical capabilities as well as experiences for mutual benefit."

"I am proud that we are among the pioneer of national oil companies partnering with one another to ensure better positioning for both organisations in an increasingly competitive market," he added.

He indicated that this partnership was built on a shared vision and shared values that align a number of priorities for both parties including – upholding the trust that both organisations have in contributing to both nations and their people.

PRefChem also celebrated a major milestone with the mechanical completion of Package 2 comprising the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU). The mechanical completion certificate was presented to Sun Lili, President of Sinopec Engineering, by Datuk Md Arif Mahmood. Both Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee and Nasser attended the event.

Dr Wong said that the circular movement of the logo represents collaboration, precision and bonding between PETRONAS and Saudi Aramco, while the blue and green colors portray PRefChem as a vibrant, dynamic and environmentally friendly company.

The refinery complex and cracker are now 96.54 percent complete while the petrochemical facilities has achieved 84.8 percent completion.



Fitch Affirms Saudi Arabia’s Credit Rating at ‘A+’ with Stable Outlook

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Fitch Affirms Saudi Arabia’s Credit Rating at ‘A+’ with Stable Outlook

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Fitch Ratings affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with Stable Outlook.
In its recent report, the agency noted that the rating reflects the Kingdom's strong fiscal and external balance sheets, with government debt/GDP and Sovereign Net Foreign Assets (SNFA) significantly stronger than both the 'A' and 'AA' medians. Furthermore, it highlighted the Kingdom's significant fiscal buffers in the form of deposits and other public-sector assets.

Fitch projects that the Sovereign Net Foreign Assets (SNFA) will reach 63.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024-2025, a figure that is considerably higher than the 'A' median of 8.7% of GDP. The agency emphasized that fiscal reforms, designed to enhance the budget's resilience to oil price volatility, could positively influence the rating.

Additionally, Fitch expects robust growth in non-oil exports, with the services balance deficit projected to continue narrowing, driven by strong growth in travel.