Saudi Aramco seeks majority stake in Indian refinery

MUMBAI: Oil giant Saudi Aramco is looking to buy a majority stake in a proposed refinery and petrochemical complex valued at 3 trillion rupees ($46.10 billion) in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, local daily Economic Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes as Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is trying to beat out Iraq to become the biggest crude supplier to India, the world’s third-largest oil importer.

The state-owned Saudi oil company is also in talks with Indian state-run refiners for marketing rights over the fuel and petrochemicals produced at the complex along with an assurance that the refinery would mostly use Saudi oil, the newspaper added.

Indian Oil Corp owns 50 percent of the complex, while Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd have the rest. Saudi Aramco was not immediately available for comment.

The refinery is expected to have a more than 300,000 barrels per day throughput capacity and to be commissioned by 2022, feeding a country that is among the biggest drivers of energy demand in the world.

Saudi Arabia is planning to list up to 5 percent of Saudi Aramco in an initial public offering that could value the company at up to $2 trillion, making it the world’s biggest oil company by market capitalisation.