Saudi Aramco unveils Saudi service station plans

Following the creation of RetailCo, a wholly owned fuel retailing subsidiary, Saudi Aramco is planning to rollout Aramco-branded service stations across Saudi Arabia. RetailCo will also serve the aviation sector.

‘RetailCo will grow its operations in both the automotive and aviation fuel segments, offering customers enhanced services and quality products while implementing a sustainable and profitable business model that delivers a new and stable source of revenue for Saudi Aramco,’ comments Ahmed A Al-Subaey, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Supply Planning, and Chairman of the board of RetailCo.

The Saudi network of forecourts will be ‘modern and self-service, with the option of paying with a credit or debit card’, also featuring ‘a convenience store and well-recognised restaurant’.

‘We are pursuing a total shift in paradigm in the gas station perception among the public, from what people think of gas stations now as a divergence from a main route to get convenience service to a destination of services on major highways, to work, or simply on the way back home,’ says Mohammed H Al-Gahtani, CEO, RetailCo.

Saudi Aramco has been a player in the global fuel retail arena for many years, through global partnerships including with Motiva in the US, Showa-Shell in Japan, S-Oil in South Korea, and FREP and SSPC in China. It has more than 11,000 service stations operating globally.