KARACHI: Saudi oil giant, Aramco, has completed the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd. (GO), Aramco said on Friday, officially marking the Saudi company’s entry into Pakistan’s fuel retail market.
Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company that produces approximately one in every eight barrels of the world’s oil supply and develops cutting-edge energy technologies, while GO is involved in the procurement, storage, sale, and marketing of petroleum products and lubricants. GO is also one of Pakistan’s largest retail and storage companies.
The Saudi oil giant signed the agreement to acquire stake in GO in Dec. 2023, which was approved by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) last month. The acquisition represents Aramco’s first downstream retail investment in Pakistan and signals the company’s growing retail presence in high-value markets.
“Our global retail expansion is gaining pace and this acquisition is an important next step on our journey. Through our strategic partnership with GO, we look forward to supplying Aramco’s high-quality products and services to valued customers in Pakistan,” Yasser Mufti, Aramco’s executive vice president of products and customers, was quoted as saying in an Aramco statement.
“We are also delighted to welcome another high-caliber addition to Aramco’s growing network of global partners, and look forward to combining our resources and expertise to unlock new opportunities and further grow the Aramco brand overseas.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
In February 2019, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia inked investment deals totaling $21 billion during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Islamabad. The agreements included about $10 billion for an Aramco oil refinery and $1 billion for a petrochemical complex at the strategic Gwadar Port in Balochistan.
Both countries have lately been working to increase bilateral trade and investment, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
Saudi Aramco completes acquisition of 40% stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan
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Saudi Aramco completes acquisition of 40% stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan
- The Saudi oil giant signed the agreement to acquire stake in GO in Dec. 2023, which was approved by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) last month
- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia have lately been working to increase bilateral trade and investment, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed expediting $5 billion investment
Pakistan’s top military commander hails Saudi defense pact as ‘historic’ at scholars’ conference
- Asim Munir says Pakistan has a unique bond with the Kingdom, citing the ‘honor’ of helping safeguard the holy sites
- He says only the state can declare jihad, urging religious scholars to counter extremist narratives and promote unity
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Defense Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Wednesday described the country’s joint security pact with Saudi Arabia as a “historic” milestone, telling a gathering of religious scholars that Pakistan and the kingdom share a deep strategic relationship.
Signed in September, the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement has solidified decades of Saudi–Pakistan defense cooperation, covering intelligence-sharing, counterterrorism and regional stability.
The two nations have long coordinated on defense matters, with Pakistani military personnel deployed in the Kingdom.
“The defense agreement [with Saudi Arabia] is historic,” he said in an address to the conference in the federal capital.
The top military commander said Pakistan regarded its connection with the Kingdom as unique.
“Among all Muslim countries, Allah has given Pakistan the honor of helping safeguard the Haramain,” he continued, referring to the two holiest sites of Islam in Makkah and Madinah.
Munir used his speech to warn against extremism, saying that under the Islamic framework, only the state could declare jihad, a pointed reference to groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which claims to act in the name of religion while carrying out attacks on civilians and security forces.
“When nations abandon knowledge and the pen, disorder takes hold,” he said, urging the religious scholars to help keep society unified and to “broaden the nation’s vision.”
Munir also criticized India, describing “terrorism” as “India’s habit, not Pakistan’s.”
His remarks came months after a four-day military confrontation in May, during which the two nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged artillery and missile fire and deployed drones and fighter jets.
India blamed Pakistan for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir before launching a missile attack. Islamabad denied involvement and called for an international probe.
Pakistan claimed it had shot down six Indian fighter jets before a US-brokered ceasefire took effect.
“We do not hide when confronting the enemy,” Munir said. “We challenge openly.”
