State oil giant Saudi Aramco denied it was involved in a deal to buy a crude oil refinery in Germany owned by US oil firm ConocoPhillips.

'There is no factual basis to the claim of Saudi Aramco involvement,' the company was quoted as saying in a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

Earlier, a spokesman for a group of investors vying for the Wilhelmshaven 260,000bpd refinery said 'a trust has soughtthe refinery for Aramco.'

ConocoPhillips said in July 2010 it would either sell the refinery or turn it into an oil distribution terminal as part of its strategy of cutting downstream operations and output has been stopped.