Saudi Aramco signs US$44 bln deal for mega Indian refinery

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Saudi Aramco announced a US$ 44billion deal to build a giant refinery complex in India with three Indian firms that will become a crucial new outlet for the world’s biggest supplier.

The refinery at Ratnagiri on the west coast will be able to process up to 1.2 million barrels of crude a day, the Saudi company said after signing a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.

Ratnagiri will be among the world’s largest “refining and petrochemicals projects and will be designed to meet India’s fastgrowing fuels and petrochemicals demand. The project cost is estimated at around US$44 billion,” said a statement.

“Saudi Aramco is the only company that can undertake (a) project of this scale,” company president Amin Nasser said in Delhi.

The Indian accord is just the latest in a string of deals – with French, US and Asian companies – announced by Aramco as it seeks secure markets for its oil and to move away from being just a producer.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s top three oil producers with Russia and the United States, while Aramco is the biggest company putting oil on the world market currently awash with product.

It will provide half of the oil to be processed at the new refinery, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters.

Iraq has in the past year overtaken Saudi Arabia as India’s main oil supplier so the refinery would be a major boost.

“Investing in India is a key part of our company’s global downstream strategy, and another milestone in our growing relationship with India,” said Aramco president Nasser.

“Participating in this mega project will allow Saudi Aramco to go beyond our crude oil supplier role to a fully integrated position that may help usher in other areas of collaboration, such as refining, marketing, and petrochemicals for India’s future energy demands,” he added. — AFP