Saudi Aramco hires former Shell executive for chemicals business

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - State oil giant Saudi Aramco has hired Olivier Thorel, a former senior executive at Royal Dutch Shell, as executive director for its chemicals business, the company said on Wednesday.

Thorel started his post at Saudi Aramco on Jan. 1. He held various positions with Shell in downstream operations after joining the company in France in 1990, Aramco said in its weekly magazine the Arabian Sun.

Saudi Aramco is growing its investments in downstream including chemicals as part of its strategy to diversify by balancing out its upstream and downstream activities.

(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Rania El Gamal and Mark Potter)