Saudi Aramco buys $1.2 billion stake in South Korean refiner

April 16, 2019 at 1:52 a.m. | Updated April 16, 2019 at 1:52 a.m.

by Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 1997 file photo, Khaled al-Otaiby, an official of the Saudi oil company Aramco, watches progress at a rig at the al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia. According to an assessment published Monday, April 1, 2019, by Moody's Investors Services, the net profits of Saudi Aramco reached $111 billion last year. That places Aramco ahead of some of the world's most profitable firms. In their first-ever grade assessment for Aramco, Fitch Ratings issued the firm an A+ rating, while Moody's gave it it's A1 rating ahead of its upcoming bonds sale. (AP Photo/John Moore, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 1997 file photo, Khaled al-Otaiby, an official of the Saudi oil company Aramco, watches progress at a rig at the al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia. According to an assessment published Monday, April 1, 2019, by Moody's Investors Services, the net profits of Saudi Aramco reached $111 billion last year. That places Aramco ahead of some of the world's most profitable firms. In their first-ever grade assessment for Aramco, Fitch Ratings issued the firm an A+ rating, while Moody's gave it it's A1 rating ahead of its upcoming bonds sale. (AP Photo/John Moore, File)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Aramco says it has reached an agreement to acquire a $1.25 billion stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank that would provide Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company with a dedicated outlet for its crude to South Korea.

Aramco says the deal, announced on Monday, amounts to a 17% stake in Hyundai Oilbank, a private oil refining company that is a subsidiary of the publicly traded Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings. The refinery complex in the western coastal city of Daesan, where Hyundai Oilbank's major facilities are located, has a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

Hyundai Oilbank says the Aramco purchase was made on valuation of the business at around $8.8 billion in market capitalization. It comes ahead of plans for an initial public offering by Hyundai Oilbank.

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