S-Oil has concluded an agree-ment with Aramco of Saudi Arabia for the supply of crude oil between the two companies for 20 years on Feb. 9 at Ara-mco's head office in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, the oil company said recently.

Aramco holds a 35 percent stake in S-Oil and has been supplying crude oil to the Korean oil refinery since 1991 when it bought a stake in the oil refiner under a 20-year long-term contract, which expired last year.

Attending the signing ceremony on the Korean side included Minister Hong Suk-woo of the Ministry of Kno-wledge Economy and Senior Vice President Kim Dong-chul of S-Oil, and on the Saudi side were Minister Al Naimi of the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals and Aramco Chairman Khalid Al-Falih, among others.

Under the new long-term supply contract, S-Oil is expected to get crude oil supplied on a stable basis from Aramco. The oil refiner refines 669,000 barrels of oil daily from its refinery in Korea, or 230 million barrels annually, about 30 percent of all crude oil refined in Korea.

S-Oil officials said a long-term contract was possible due mostly to close ties between Korea and Saudi Arabia and the amicable relationship between the two oil companies over the past two decades, despite the fact that crude oil supply contracts are usually only signed for a year.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil producing country with crude reserves amounting of 260 billion barrels. It enjoys absolute influence in the global market with producing capacity of 12 million barrels of crude a day, which is equivalent to 11 percent of total global crude output

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company, is the world's largest oil company overseeing the entire oil-related business of the country. 

Saudi Aramco has maintained long-term investment relations with S-OIL ever since it decided to invest in the Korean refiner in the form of a joint venture in 1991. The long-term investment by Saudi Aramco serves as the most ideal model of economic cooperation between an oil producing country and a consuming country, as well as a symbol of strong ties between the two countries

S-OIL Corporation CEO Ahmed A. Subaey received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit at the ceremony for the 48th Trade Day held at COEX in southern Seoul on Dec. 12. The Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit is the highest order of merit for the industrial sector. He won the award in recognition of his con-tribution to improving Korea's trade balance through the continuing export of petroleum products and massive facility investments.

CEO Subaey, who is Saudi Arabian, worked for Saudi Aramco for 27 years. He took office as CEO of S-OIL in March 2008 and has since led the company to become a world-class exporter of petroleum and petroch-emical products.  nw