Aramco exit clouds downstream drive

摘要

Southeast Asian countries are racing to expand and upgrade their refining and petrochemicals capacity. But their hopes of attracting deep-pocketed foreign partners to help fund the projects are diminishing. The largest benefactor of regional downstream developments, Saudi Arabia's state-owned Saudi Aramco, set off alarm bells last month, when it dropped plans to invest in Malaysia's $27bn Rapid crude processing hub. The decision means that state-owned Petronas will have to complete the facility single-handedly, unless it can find a new partner to help finance the complex.