Saudi Aramco details creation of service station chain in Saudi Arabia

A phased expansion of RetailCo retail sites will begin soon with all of them expected to offer modern, varied services.

Saudi Aramco will soon rollout Aramco-branded service stations across Saudi Arabia. The company describes the future stations as modern sites with self-serve pumps, convenience stores and well-recognized restaurants.

With the creation of RetailCo, a wholly owned subsidiary established for fuel retailing, “Saudi Aramco will be creating a sustainable and profitable business model for integrating across the hydrocarbon value chain,” said Ahmed A. Al-Subaey, vice president of Marketing, Sales, and Supply Planning and chairman of the board of RetailCo.

The oil company will cater fuel service for the automotive and aviation sectors. For the automotive segment, RetailCo will take a phased approach to expand its network of domestic fuel retail stations to cover the Kingdom.

Saudi Aramco has been in the global fuel retail business for decades through global partnerships – Motiva in the United States, Showa-Shell in Japan, S-Oil in South Korea, and FREP and SSPC in China are examples of the Saudi Aramco presence in the fuel retail arena with more than 11,000 operating stations globally.

“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,” Al-Gahtani said.

While crude oil prices fluctuate depending on news events, global politics, and market conditions, the demand for transportation fuel continues to grow steadily, worldwide, according to the company.

Saudi Aramco has already established training centers to provide their retailing employees with the soft and technical skills needed to meet their standards.