Aramco and Shell end refining relationship

Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell have finalised an agreement to pull the plug on their nearly two-decade-long refining partnership, Motiva. The deal will divide up Motiva assets and see Aramco pay Shell $2.2 billion (£1.8 billion).

Motiva processes, stores, distributes and markets petroleum products in the US. Its three Gulf Coast plants have a combined capacity of over 1 million barrels of crude oil per day. Aramco will take complete control of the Motiva name and the 603,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur refinery in Texas, the largest in North America and the fifth largest in the world. Shell will assume control of the other two Motiva refineries, both in Louisiana.

The deal follows on from Shell’s programme to reduce its debts by selling-off assets and a commitment made by Aramaco last year to expand its global refining footprint.

The transaction is set to close by the second quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval.