Saudi Aramco, an alliance of India state refineries has agreed to build a mega refinery based petrochemical project on India’s west coast for an estimated $44 billion, as per the sources involved in the oil deal.
The move will grant 50 percent stake to Saudi Aramco, in a planned 1.2 billion barrel per day amount granting the oil kingdom a new outlet for its oil.
Khalid al-Falih, Saudi oil minister is expected to visit Delhi for International Energy Forum post which the preliminary agreement on the deal will be announced by Wednesday.
We see India as a priority for investments and for our crude supplies,” Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said.
“We see India as a priority for investment as well as crude oil.We are very much interested in retail and want to be consumer-facing”
Aramco, like other major producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world’s third-biggest oil consumer. Last year it opened an office in New Delhi.
This plant will be first of its kind and the largest petrochemicals in the world which will tentatively get commissioned by 2022.
Saudi Aramco is keen on tapping the rising demand in the Indian market and has also opened an office in Delhi, last year. SABIC, Saudi’s petrochemical firm is also looking forward to making investments in India.
Saudi Arabia’s CEO Mr. Amin Nasser has also signed an MOU with Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals, an alliance consisting BPCL, IOCL, and HPCL.
He said,
Saudi Aramco is the only company that can take such a large scale project. Talking on retailing, he said, We are very much interested in it and do not want to limit ourselves to manufacturing.We want to be in every neighborhood, every city, providing the energy solution.
Saudi Arabia is in close competition with Iraq who is also working to become India’s top oil supplier.Iraq had displaced Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2017, as per the annual Reuters report.