Claim: Photos show Saudi Aramco’s new petrol station in Pakistan, with some posts stating it is located in Islamabad.
Fact: The energy giant has not opened a new petrol station anywhere in Pakistan yet. A top official of Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd told Soch Fact Check that a number of Aramco stations are slated to open in the country in 2024. The photos in the claim are from Saudi Arabia.
On 9 September 2024, Facebook page ‘Local Street’ posted (archive) a visual showing an Aramco petrol-filling station alongside the text, “سعودی عرب کی آرامکو نے پاکستان میں پہلا پیٹرول اسٹیشن کھول لیا [Saudi Arabia’s Aramco has opened its first petrol station in Pakistan].”
The accompanying caption reads as follows:
“سعودی عرب کی آرامکو نے پاکستان میں پہلا پیٹرول اسٹیشن کھول لیا!
[Saudi Arabia’s Aramco opened the first petrol station in Pakistan!]”
“اسلام آباد: دنیا کی سب سے بڑی توانائی اور کیمیکلز کمپنیوں میں سے ایک، آرامکو، نے پاکستان کی پیٹرولیم مارکیٹ میں قدم رکھ دیا ہے۔
[ISLAMABAD: Aramco, one of the world’s largest energy and chemicals companies, has entered Pakistan’s petroleum market.]”
“آرامکو کا پہلا برانڈڈ پیٹرول اسٹیشن اسلام آباد میں کھولا گیا، جو ملکی معیشت کے لیے ایک اہم پیشرفت ہے۔
[Aramco’s first branded petrol station has been opened in Islamabad, which is a major development for the country’s economy.]”
“یہ اقدام اس وقت سامنے آیا ہے جب سعودی عرب کی سرکاری ملکیت والی کمپنی نے گیس اینڈ آئل پاکستان لمیٹڈ میں 40 فیصد حصص حاصل کیے۔
[The move comes after the Saudi Arabian state-owned company acquired 40% stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd.]”
Apart from the picture of a petrol station in the main claim, two other images also went viral alongside the unverified posts.
Aramco completed its acquisition of a 40% stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd (GO), according to a joint statement issued 31 May 2024 by the Saudi energy giant and the Pakistani petroleum company, available on their websites here and here, respectively.
“The acquisition [was] first announced in December 2023”, Aramco had said, adding that the move was part of “its global retail expansion” project. This was also mentioned in the company’s first-half 2024 results published on 5 August 2024, the latest document available on its website when searching for “Pakistan”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check searched for updates on the websites of both Aramco and GO about a new petrol station in Islamabad but did not find any relevant information.
We also looked for reports published by any reputable media outlets but only came across rebuttals, such as those available here, here, and here, which quoted GO Chief Operating & Financial Officer (COFO) Zeeshan Tayyeb as saying, “No Aramco site has been commissioned anywhere in Pakistan so far. A formal announcement regarding any new developments will be made at an appropriate time.”
The 12 September 2024 report by The News quoted GO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Khalid Riaz as saying, “We hope that our sites would be finalized by [the] end of this month and would be commissioned by mid-October this year.”
Prior to that, on 11 September 2024, Arab News reported that Aramco intended to launch its first branded retail gas station in Pakistan before the current year ends. It quoted an email by the Saudi energy giant’s public relations department, which said, “We are working to launch our first Aramco-branded gas station in Pakistan by the end of the year. Will share more information when the site is commissioned.”
The claim likely gained traction after Faseeh Mangi, Bloomberg’s bureau chief for Pakistan, posted the same on X (erstwhile Twitter), writing, “Saudi Aramco acquired a 40% stake in Pakistan’s fuel retailer Go for $80 million, reports @81ShahbazRana – The acquisition marks the entry of the oil giant in Pakistan – Here’s a photo of one of the first rebranded stations in Pakistan”.
However, Mangi later deleted their post and issued a correction, “The photo is not local as per latest info. 11 stations will be rebranded this year”. Interestingly, the journalist had uploaded the same image earlier on 15 July 2024 alongside the caption, “Saudi Aramco gas stations come up in Pakistan after enter the country by acquiring 40% in a local fuel retailer. Only hand a handful of Go Petroleum stations will be rebranded in the big cities”
The claim was also fuelled by a 9 September 2024 report (archive) by Pakistan Observer, which published the headline, “Saudi Arabia’s Aramco opens first retail petroleum outlet in Pakistan,” but later revised it to write “No Aramco site commissioned in Pakistan so far, GO clarifies amid online rumors.”
Soch Fact Check reached out to both Aramco and GO for further comment.
Tayyeb, the GO COFO, confirmed to us in an emailed statement that Aramco “has not opened any sites in Pakistan yet”. He said that as part of the company’s joint venture with the Saudi giant, “a number of Aramco branded stations are planned to be opened in the country” during 2024.
While he did not specify how many petrol stations were slated to open in Pakistan, he said the total number “is subject to final decisions by the Board” and these “are expected to be commissioned in major cities”.
Where are the visuals from?
As for the visuals, we found the primary image published in Saudi Aramco’s annual report for 2022, in which the petrol station’s location is identified as Khobar, a city in Saudi Arabia.
The second image appeared in a 25 October 2021 press release by TotalEnergies, datelined Riyadh, indicating that not only is the petrol station in Saudi Arabia, but the visual also predates Aramco’s acquisition of a stake in GO in May 2024.
We were able to trace the third photo to a 14 July 2024 LinkedIn post by Rami Abu Zahieh, the CEO of a Jordan-based company named AL REWAYA focused on “fueling dispenser, automation, piping services & maintenance to service-stations”, according to their profile.
The accompanying caption reads, “One of RMC complete project’s at jeddeh region,” which indicates that this petrol station, too, is located in Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that Aramco has not opened any petrol stations in Pakistan as of publishing time and the accompanying photos in the claim are all from Saudi Arabia.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, here on Instagram, and here on YouTube.
Conclusion: Aramco has not opened a new petrol station anywhere in Pakistan yet. Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd Chief Operating & Financial Officer confirmed that a number of Aramco stations are slated to open in the country in 2024. The photos in the claim are from Saudi Arabia.
Background image in cover photo: Aramco media gallery
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