Aramco confirmed after the agreement was signed that the refinery will be at Ratnagiri on the west coast and it will process up to 1.2 million barrels of crude a day.
Saudi Aramco announced a $44 billion (Dh161.6-billion) deal with India’s Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to build a giant refinery complex in India and it will be a new outlet for the world’s biggest supplier.
Aramco confirmed after the agreement was signed that the refinery will be at Ratnagiri on the west coast and it will process up to 1.2 million barrels of crude a day.
A statement said, “Ratnagiri will be among the world’s largest refining and petrochemicals projects and will be designed to meet India’s fast-growing fuels and petrochemicals demand. The project cost is estimated at around $44 billion.”
Company president Amin Nasser said, “Saudi Aramco is the only company that can undertake (a) project of this scale.”
Saudi Arabia comes under the world’s top three oil producers with Russia and the United States and Aramco is the biggest oil refining company in the world.
Lately, Iraq has been India’s main oil supplier but now this partnership between Saudi and India will be a major improvement.
Aramco president Nasser said, “Investing in India is a key part of our company’s global downstream strategy, and another milestone in our growing relationship with India.”
He added “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.”
The three Indian refining firms, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have set up a joint venture for the deal with Aramco, called Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
Aramco said,” It may seek to include a strategic partner to co-invest in the mega refinery”.
In each case, supply deals have been a condition of refinery investment. Aramco is also carefully planning a huge stock market listing, ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, amid the turbulence of the world oil market.
The hotly-awaited stock market debut will happen in 2018 or 2019, depending on the market, the kingdom’s finance minister told AFP on Tuesday.
Mohammad Al Jadaan said, “If the market is ready in 2018, we will go in 2018. If not, we will wait until 2019.”
He said, “We are not desperate for listing. We will only list when the market is right.”
The government had not decided whether to list Aramco on the Saudi exchange alone, on a stock market abroad or seek a dual listing.
