ARAMCO’S BIG PLANS IN INDIA
Saudi oil firm wants to set up fully integrated business, keen on refinery partnership
NEW DELHI
SAUDI Arabia’s stateowned oil giant has “mega investment” plans for the world’s fastest growing oil market. Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) aimed to create a fully integrated business in India and was interested in partnering on a planned refinery project on the country’s west coast, said its chief executive officer Amin Nasser, here, on Monday.
Investing in the plant, which is slated to be among the world’s largest, follows efforts by Aramco to bulk up on refining assets ahead of what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering.
“India has all the signs of a prosperous economy that is on the move. This is a market of investment priority and not a choice any more,” said Nasser at the Indian Energy Forum by CERAWeek. “We have a number of partners with whom we are going to have serious discussions.”
Saudi Arabia has been edged out as the top oil supplier to India amid an intensifying race among producers to retain their mostprized markets. India, which imports about 80 per cent of its crude requirement, has been diversifying its sources of oil supply and is seeking more favourable terms from producers in the Middle East. It received its first oil cargo from the US this month.
Aramco held talks with India’s stateowned oil companies led by Indian Oil Corp to discuss participation in the 60 million tonnesa-year refinery being set up in Maharashtra, on India’s west coast, said Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday at the same event.
The potential partnership would be an extension of Aramco’s strategy to lock up market share by investing in refineries in Asia, which is driving global oil demand growth.
The world’s biggest exporter earlier this year committed US$13 billion to projects in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as a new refining and petrochemical plant in China.
Aramco opened an office in India this week primarily to market crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas as well as to provide engineering and technical services in the country. Bloomberg