WorldBBN INTERVIEW
Saudi Arabia to store oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security
Saudi Aramco is set to sign a memorandum with Singapore's Energy Market Authority and JTC Corp within months; the oil goes into a very deep storage unit.
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At a glance
- First reported by Reuters: “Saudi Arabia to store oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security”, with reporting from Reuters via Nikkei Asia, The Standard and Reuters via news.az.
- Covered on BBN on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 4:44 AM ET on BBN After Hours, by Hank Ledger.
- BBN covered this story before: Pokémon Company plans first permanent store outside Asia (October 21).
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- ReutersSaudi Arabia to store oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security
- Reuters via Nikkei AsiaSaudi Arabia to store oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security - Nikkei Asia October 26, 2026 · facts used on air
- The StandardSaudi Arabia to store crude oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security October 26, 2026 · facts used on air
- Reuters via news.azSaudi Arabia plans oil storage in Singapore to secure Asia supply October 26, 2026 · facts used on air
What BBN said about it

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSaudi Arabia will keep some of its oil in Singapore, in caverns one hundred fifty meters underground, starting in the second half of twenty twenty-seven.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWith us is Maribel Szczepanski of Hollowell Grange Advisory, who bills four thousand dollars an hour. Maribel, what is this deal?
Maribel SzczepanskiAt the strategic level, Hank, it's a forward-positioned supply resilience asset. It's a space where you put things, and it has a door.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo it's a storage unit.
Maribel SzczepanskiIt's a storage unit that can hold about nine million barrels at the Jurong Rock Caverns. That framing alone is worth two hours of my time.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSaudi Arabia's energy minister says bringing supply closer to Asian markets strengthens the flexibility of the network. Is that true?
Maribel SzczepanskiYes. Closer is closer.
Maribel SzczepanskiAt the strategic level, you want the oil near the people who need the oil, and I'd have charged you for that sentence.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou keep jingling that padlock. What is it?
Maribel SzczepanskiAt the strategic level, it's our security architecture. It's brass, it locks, and the key is in my other jacket.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAramco agreed in twenty twenty-three to store five point three million barrels in South Korea's Ulsan reserve facilities for five years. Did you advise on that one?
Maribel SzczepanskiAt the strategic level, we advised on the closet. I mean the concept of the closet. Ours is a very good closet.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe closet.
Maribel SzczepanskiFine. We've never visited a cave. We read the Reuters story and added a slide.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorFor the record, that was a four-hundred-dollar answer. What would you charge to say it's a storage unit?
Maribel SzczepanskiFour thousand dollars an hour.

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorI just said it. Free.
More Shorts
All videos →The story so far
- Pokémon Company plans first permanent store outside Asia · SoraNews24
- Saudi Arabia to store oil in Singapore to bolster Asia supply security (this story)
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Monday, October 26, 2026 · the World archive · all months

Photo: Saudi Press Agency (SPA) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Steve F · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Thomas Wolf · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: The White House · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
