Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco has bought new shares worth $5 million in blockchain-based oil trading company Vakt, according to media reports.
Vakt is a consortium of leading energy companies such as Aramco, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Equinor, Gunvor, Koch, Mercuria, ABN Amro, ING, Societe Generale, Chevron, Reliance, and Total.
According to media reports, the fund received from Aramco will be used to upgrade Vakt’s platform and plan for expansion in Southeast Asia.
Aramco’s subsidiary and trading company Aramco Trading is also expected to start using Vakt’s blockchain-enabled platform.
Vakt, which launched its trading platform in 2018, provides a smooth process from trade entry to settlement by completely eliminating paper-based processes and manual accounting practices.
Hans Middelthon, managing director of SAEV Europe told the media, “Vakt has demonstrated that their platform has the potential to digitize what is currently a very manual process.”