Aramco embarks on global hunt for natural gas supplies

Dubai

SAUDI Aramco is looking for natural gas assets from Russia to East Africa and the US as the kingdom's state-owned energy giant hunts for ways to meet soaring domestic demand.

The remarks by Khalid Al-Falih, who's both Aramco chairman and Saudi energy minister, are a tacit admission Aramco has failed to find enough domestic gas reserves despite years of exploration. He's now considering imports of super-cooled liquefied natural gas to bridge the gap with local consumption and cut the amount of crude oil burned in power stations instead of exported for a profit.