Remarks by Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, SVP Downstream in Warsaw, Poland

Good morning, and thank you very much. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I must tell you that Warsaw – with your beautiful Old Town and rich history – is a city I have long wished to visit.

So, to join you as we mark this important agreement is a tremendous privilege. I must admit, however, I always imagined myself visiting Warsaw in June, not in January! 

But I’m happy to say the winter weather is more than offset by the warmth of our reception.  So, we thank you for your hospitality. 

My long admiration for Poland – and the Polish people – is driven by this nation’s incredible resilience. Its history of reinvention.  And this is important, because we in the oil and gas industry find ourselves at a point of transformation, where resilience and reinvention have never been more important.  

At Aramco, we are re-imagining the future of Downstream, and the value it will bring, not only to our business, but to the world.  

Our goal is to build a chemicals business that is a global leader, on-par with our position in oil.  And our acquisition of a 70-percent stake in SABIC has been key, creating integrated solutions from crude oil supplies, refined products and chemicals, to lubricants and advanced non-metallic materials. 

Today, we are proud to announce our partnership with PKN Orlen, which marks another very important step in this journey. 

Our relationship with Orlen began in 2016, with crude oil sales that marked Aramco’s entry into the Baltic market, and Orlen’s first long-term contract with a supplier from the Gulf region. 

That relationship has grown, and the partnership we announce today will see Aramco and Orlen working together, in a variety of ways, to bring value and innovation to Poland’s energy market.

Through this partnership agreement, Aramco will acquire a 30% equity interest in Gdansk Refinery, a 100% equity interest in the associated wholesale business, and a 50% equity interest in a jet fuel marketing joint venture with BP.

Alongside the partnership agreement, we are signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Aramco, SABIC and Orlen, through which we will explore petrochemical opportunities in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, including a focus on liquids-to-chemicals pathways.

Additionally, an MoU is being signed between Aramco and Orlen to explore numerous opportunities in Research and Development.

Aramco is already one of the largest integrated refiners in the world, and this partnership bolsters our strong position with the placement of up to 400 MBD of Arabian crude oil into Orlen’s system, serving a vibrant Polish energy market.

Moreover, it’s a partnership that simply makes good sense. Aramco brings to the table a commitment to reliability that has been forged over nearly 90 years of service to our customers around the world. 

Through SABIC, we are pursuing game-changing opportunities in petrochemicals. We are driving technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to enhance value and increase safety.

And we have prioritized sustainability, not just through the low carbon intensity of our oil and advanced R&D, but through our Net-Zero ambitions going forward. And all of these efforts perfectly complement the strengths and ambitions being brought to the table by our colleagues at Orlen. This partnership moves our companies forward on many fronts. 

So, I would like to thank our colleagues at Orlen, as well as the team from SABIC, for their extraordinary efforts to bring this deal, and these MoUs, to reality. Especially in light of the many challenges related to COVID-19 restrictions.

In fact, while today is symbolic of a new phase in our partnership, we hope we can come together again with an even bigger event in a few months, once all the formalities and approvals are in place. 

But we wanted to join you in-person today, for a very simple reason. In a city that has taught the world so much about resilience, it is meaningful that we come together here, to build the resilience of our businesses and our industry in a powerful way. 

Thank you, once again, for your hospitality.