Aramco, a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company, and MOL, a international, integrated oil and gas company, agreed to acquire select downstream assets in Poland from PKN Orlen, a major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer, for $1.7bn. “These acquisitions will support the diversification of Aramco’s product portfolio across the hydrocarbon value chain — including a focus on liquids-to-chemicals pathways. Our expanding global network of refineries and chemical joint ventures allows us to reach new markets with our products, and strategically place crude oil volumes across different geographies. Our business objectives for oil and chemicals are closely aligned with PKN Orlen, and we are exploring additional opportunities in the European petrochemicals market, as well as in R&D,” Mohammed Al Qahtani, Aramco Senior Vice-President.