Saudi Aramco Deal Lifts PetroRabigh Shares Most Since 2021

Saudi Aramco agreed to buy an additional stake in PetroRabigh from its joint venture partner Sumitomo Chemical Co. for $702 million. PetroRabigh shares rose the most since 2021.

Aramco will acquire 22.5% of Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. from the Japanese company، taking its stake to 60% and Sumitomo Chemical’s to 15%، according to a statement Wednesday.

PetroRabigh’s stock jumped as much as 10%، the biggest intraday gain since December 2021، and paring this year’s decline to 22%. The shares were trading at 8.14 riyals on Wednesday، moving above Aramco’s purchase price of 7 riyals apiece.

The deal helped counter PetroRabigh reporting a second-quarter loss of 1.1 billion Saudi riyals ($293 million) on Wednesday.

All proceeds received by Sumitomo from the sale will be injected into PetroRabigh. Aramco will also provide an additional $702 million to improve the firm’s financial position، according to the statement.

Aramco and Sumitomo also agreed to waive loans of $750m each، helping reduce PetroRabigh’s liabilities.

PetroRabigh operates a refining and petrochemical complex located on Saudi Arabia’s west coast and produces a variety of refined petroleum and petrochemical products، such as heavy and light oil، naphtha and kerosene.