Curious Visit
Board members of Saudi Arabia's state oil firm Aramco visited Korea for four days to hold their board meeting.
According to sources in the industry on April 21, 11 high-ranking company officials visited the country for a four-day trip from April 20 to 23, including Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf, Supreme Economic Council Secretary-General Majid Al Moneef, and Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid Al-Falih. Aramco is the world’s largest oil firm and the largest shareholder of Korean oil refiner S-Oil with a 63.41 percent stake. More than 30 percent of imported crude oil comes from Aramco.
The ostensible reason for the visit of the board members is to hold a board meeting in Korea on April 23. It is the second time that the state-run oil giant will hold its annual board meeting in the country, following the first in 2011.
On the day, the top officials visited S-Oil's factory currently under construction in Ulsan and the nearby Hyundai Heavy Industries. However, the agenda and detailed itinerary of the board are confidential, stimulating curiosity.
The industry sources expect that the board members will have meetings for business cooperation with government officials and business leaders in the domestic energy industry, including oil refinery companies, during the visit.