The Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company in terms of crude oil reserves and daily production, is considering setting up a Korean operation to expand its presence in the nation’s energy market, industry sources said Wednesday.

The state-run oil company already registered its new branch named Aramco Asia Korea Ltd. in May and is currently recruiting employees. Its office will be located in the Seoul Finance Center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.

The company, which is the largest shareholder of Korea’s No. 3 oil refiner S-Oil with a 35 percent stake, has focused on refining and selling oil and gas products in Korea.

The company has been largely dependent on its Chinese and Japanese branches for other Korean businesses, except for oil refining.

“Saudi Aramco is carrying out large-scale plant projects together with Korean companies recently. They may have felt a necessity to better communicate with Korean partners here,” said an industry source, declining to be identified.

“The Korean branch is unlikely to affect the existing oil refining business of S-Oil,” he added.

The new opening comes at a time when Saudi Aramco is seeking to extend businesses beyond its traditional oil refining while Korean companies have strengthened global competitiveness in renewable energy and plant sectors.

Last year, the company also became the second-largest shareholder of Hankook Silicon, a Korean leading manufacturer of polysilicon, the key material for solar batteries, purchasing its 33.4 percent stake through S-Oil.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)