Saudi Aramco eyes more partnerships in India

new delhi — Saudi Arabian Oil Co is looking for more crude refining partnerships in India, the world’s fastest-growing oil market, as part of a plan to double capacity to produce gasoline and other fuels.

The deals being sought are with state-owned and private refiners, CEO Amin Nasser told reporters in New Delhi. Oil ministers from Saudi Arabia and India announced the same day that Aramco, as the company is known, will take a 50 per cent stake and provide crude supplies to a proposed $44 billion refinery in the state of Maharashtra on India’s west coast.

State oil companies like Aramco are expanding refining capacity in joint ventures to guarantee demand for their oil in an oversupplied market. Crude from US shale oil fields and from Russian deposits is vying increasingly for buyers in Asia, the biggest market for Middle Eastern producers.

Asia is still Aramco’s largest market, and the company wants to sell as much crude as it can in the region, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih told reporters Wednesday in New Delhi.

Even after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly increased official crude pricing for May in Asia, demand in China was not affected, Nasser said. “Saudi Aramco’s nomination to China in May was quite healthy,” he said, referring to the amount of oil allocated for sale there. — Bloomberg