Saudi Aramco is a state owned oil and gas company. That is a country that has used its oil money to create wealth to serve its people. Here, we say government has no business in business. Aramco has 100 percent control equity shares in the Port Arthur refinery in Texas, which is the largest refinery in North America. has a capacity to process 600,000 barrels of oil per day. As of October 2020, it had a net worth of over $2 trillion USD.
People might argue that it is because of the governance structure, which is a monarchy. Are kings and Queens not humans? What about China, India, Norway, and Brazil governments that run refineries, wholly or in partnerships? Are they also monarchies?
Our investment environment is unfriendly. It has all manners of blockades, which must be dealt with. Why is that Exxon Mobil, Shell and others are divesting from Nigeria?
Until we realize that killing corruption through very severe sanctions, removal of entitlement mentalities that we latch on to stifle companies, nothing would work privately or publicly.
People might again say but we have local investors taking over the assets. My experience shows that most local investors practice yellow dog contracts in which workers are treated more or less as slaves.
It is also a bad sign that should worry the Unions that in time to come, many companies would be allergic to unionization. We saw it in the banks. It has crept into the oil and gas. I am concerned. I don’t know if others are.
Grace and peace!!!
