SAUDI Arabian Oil Co, the world's biggest crude oil producer, has opened a Shanghai office to source services, equipment and other material from China.

The growing significance of China as an emerging industrial giant gives Saudi Aramco confidence the country will play a major role in contributing to the company's supply chain, Esam A. Mousli, corporate vice president for materials supply said.

The Shanghai office was the second launched within the week by the Saudi state oil company in Asia, a region that it describes as not only an important market for crude oil and oil products but also a key provider of essential goods.

The Saudi company has been eager to gain access to China's wholesale oil products market, a sector set to open to foreign companies by the end of the year as part of China's commitments to the World Trade Organization.

Aramco has invested in a refinery project in south China's Fujian Province with China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec, and ExxonMobil Corp at a total cost of US$3.5 billion. It is also in talks to acquire a stake in a Sinopec refinery project in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Foreign firms have been gaining ownership in Chinese refinery projects and establishing joint retail gas station ventures with Chinese partners as they prepare to enter the wholesale market, which is now dominated by the nation's two state-controlled oil companies.

Source:佚名