Saudi Arabia Is Buying Up America's Oil Assets

Saudi Arabia is quietly amassing quite a portfolio of American energy assets. State-owned Saudi Aramco is already co-owner, with Royal Dutch Shell , of Motiva, the largest U.S. refinery. Under an already signed agreement, in April 2017, Aramco will take full ownership of the most valuable Motiva assets. Now comes news that Motiva is the leading candidate to purchase the Lyondell Basell Refinery in Houston. This would give Saudi Arabia control of two major Texas refineries proving, once again, that American energy independence is impossible. Saudi Arabia is not the only country with energy assets in the U.S. and close energy ally, Canada, but Saudi Arabia’s activities present a good case study because of its efforts at global diversification within the energy industry. In the free market of the United States, foreign companies can invest in and even purchase or create energy assets on American shores. Such assets can include refineries and petrochemical plants; oil, gas, and coal rights; alternative energy startups; and utilities. Countries and national oil companies like Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco do just that. Aramco also operates three research centers in the United States: in Houston, Cambridge, and Detroit. The Cambridge location is beside MIT, all the better to access top talent. Where there is opportunity, smart energy companies will participate, and they need not be American...more