Aramco lines up asset sales worth tens of billions amid Hormuz crisis

Saudi Aramco has invited banks to pitch on a potential sulphur business sale codenamed Project Yellowstone, which could raise up to $7 billion, according to Reuters.reuters
The company signed an MoU with South Korea on June 14 to expand crude storage in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz blockade.motir
Aramco is also considering selling oil terminals, its headquarters campus, and power plants as it maintains a $21.9 billion quarterly dividend.reuters

Aramco Pursues Global Storage Strategy and Asset Sales as Hormuz Crisis Reshapes Energy Security

Saudi Aramco is moving to expand its crude oil storage footprint abroad and unlock tens of billions of dollars through infrastructure asset sales, as the months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz forces the world’s largest oil exporter to rethink how it gets barrels to market.

Storage Push in South Korea

On June 14, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan signed a memorandum of understanding expanding crude oil storage inside South Korea’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve while deepening cooperation across oil, gas, refining, and petrochemicals. The agreement builds on an existing arrangement under which state-run Korea National Oil Corporation stores Saudi crude at its Ulsan facility.argusmedia

South Korea’s trade ministry said the deal ensures “stable supply of core national resources such as crude oil and naphtha amid ongoing global supply chain instability”. The MoU also covers developing “appropriate infrastructure” to improve access to energy resources, a signal that Aramco intends to position barrels closer to key Asian consumers rather than rely solely on Gulf-based exports vulnerable to chokepoint disruptions.icis

Hormuz Fallout

The Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict carried roughly 20 percent of the world’s daily oil supply, has been largely blocked since Iran closed it on February 28. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned in May that the world was losing about 100 million barrels of supply per week and that markets may not normalize until 2027. Aramco has partially compensated by routing crude through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, maintaining 60 to 70 percent of export volumes.reuters

Asset Sales to Raise Capital

Separately, Reuters reported on June 17 that Aramco has invited banks to pitch on a potential sale of its sulphur business, codenamed Project Yellowstone, which could raise up to $7 billion. The company is also weighing disposals of oil export terminals, real estate including its headquarters campus valued at around $10 billion, gas-fired power plants worth at least $4 billion, and water infrastructure assets under the codename Project Hydro. A formal sales process is not expected before next year.reuters

The asset-sale drive reflects fiscal pressure on Aramco, which maintained its quarterly dividend at $21.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026 even as Saudi Arabia’s government draws heavily on energy revenues. The combination of strategic storage expansion and infrastructure monetization marks a new phase for Aramco — one defined less by production capacity and more by supply chain resilience.worldoil