Adnoc joins hands with Aramco for Ratnagiri refinery
MEGA PACT Project will be a 50:50 JV between the two companies and Indian consortium of IOCL, HPCL & BPCL
MUMBAI: The world’s biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, has roped in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc), the state-run oil firm of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to jointly develop the massive refinery and petrochemicals complexes coming up at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
“Saudi Aramco and Adnoc signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) today to jointly develop and build an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra,” the Indian government said after the agreement was inked in New Delhi on Monday.
The development on the 60 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) project marks the growing importance of buyers at the centre of oil giants’ growth plans and assumes significance given that the UAE supplies 6% of India’s crude oil imports. With three million barrels per day of crude oil production, Adnoc is the world’s 12th largest producer and UAE is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). Opec accounts for about 83% of India’s total crude oil imports and 40% of global production.
reported on June 21 about Adnoc’s plans to pick up 25% in the $44 billion refinery and petrochemicals project, post which Saudi Aramco and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd will hold 25% each in the project, while 12.50% each will be held by Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL).
Given its large volumes, any project with a capacity of over 15 mtpa is referred to as international economic capacity in industry parlance. Experts say by that yardstick, Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) is a mega project. When the MOU for RRPCL was signed in April by Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-falih, it was announced that Saudi Aramco may induct a strategic partner by divesting its 50% stake in the project.
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“RRPCL which is promoted by a consortium of Indian PSUS consisting of IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will now have Saudi Aramco and Adnoc as overseas strategic partners. The project will be set up as a 50:50 joint partnership between the consortium from India and Saudi Aramco and Adnoc. This will be the single largest overseas investment in the Indian refining sector,” the government said.
The MOU was signed by Saudi Aramco president and chief executive officer (CEO) Amin H Nasser and UAE’S minister of state and Adnoc Group CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber during the ongoing visit of UAE’S foreign affairs and international cooperation minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
(India) (Venezuela) (South Korea)
MUMBAI: India will not prevent funding for the China-pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through a multilateral institution like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite being critical of the $50 billion transportation project that it believes infringes on India’s sovereignty.
“Every multilateral bank has many dimensions and one cannot dictate which projects it must invest in, in other countries,” said Piyush Goyal, Union minister for finance, railways, coal and corporate affairs. “I think we should look at how we can benefit from such engagements rather than focusing our efforts on trying to see what they should not be doing,” he said.
CPEC is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) being spearheaded by China to build transport infrastructure across Asia and Africa. It passes through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
India was isolated in its criticism of the project and was the only country at this month’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Qingdao city that refused to endorse BRI. Beijing has signed pacts with about 80 countries and international organizations before it started work on BRI. “The AIIB is an independent organization, it’s not a Chinese-led institution,” Goyal reiterated. “India is the largest recipient of AIIB’S funds. We’ve received loans of $1.2 billion of the $ 4.4 billion sanctioned so far by the bank. We’re looking at a bouquet of 9-10 other projects (for AIIB’S financing). We should focus our efforts on this.”
China holds a 31% stake in AIIB, while India, the secondlargest shareholder, has 8% voting rights. On Sunday, economic affairs secretary SC Garg said that no funding proposal linked to the BRI had so far come before the AIIB. He we speaking on the sidelines of the AIIB annual meeting in Mumbai.
On India’s internal infrastructure needs, Goyal said the government is open to the idea of monetizing infrastructure assets, besides roads, through the new toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model. “It’s not a bad idea and it’s good for the economy,” he said.
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