Dubai — Saudi Aramco plans to expand its trading business by buying and selling non-Saudi crude as the world’s biggest exporter prepares for what could be a record initial public offering. The state-owned company is putting crude marketing and refined-product trading under the same management, according to Ibrahim al-Buainain, CEO of Saudi Aramco Products Trading Company. The enlarged unit will trade crude that it doesn’t own, helping Saudi Aramco supply refineries more efficiently and make more profit, he said. "We’ll keep selling our own oil as normal, and we want to get into trading third-party crude," Al-Buainain, who will head the expanded unit, said in an interview in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Aramco, known formally as Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is joining other state-controlled oil companies in taking a greater interest in trading crude rather than just supplying it. The move comes as the kingdom prepares to sell about 5% of Aramco. The government has previously s...
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