Saudi Arabia seeks access to foreign strategic oil storage for Aramco

Saudi Arabia is in talks with foreign governments to secure access for state oil company Saudi Aramco to store crude in their strategic reserves, the company’s chief executive, Amin Nasser, has said. He said the move would help ensure reliable supplies for customers if shipments were disrupted.

Nasser told the Al Arabiya news channel on Thursday that the Energy Ministry was discussing making government storage space available to Aramco. He said commercial storage capacity offered through partners was limited, while the largest capacity was held in strategic reserves owned by governments.

The report comes after attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including drone strikes in September that put the country’s main oil pipeline out of operation for several days. Aramco’s proposed access to overseas storage is intended to provide another way to support deliveries during disruptions; the report does not identify which governments are involved or say that any agreements have been reached.

The pipeline, which carries oil from Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast to the Red Sea, has since resumed exports, although the extent of restored capacity remains unclear. Saudi Arabia’s pipeline resumption was reported in September.