Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih says country interested in Indian refineries

Saurabh Kumar, February 25,2018

To deepen ties between Saudi Arabia and India, the oil-rich nation’s Saudi Aramco oil company plans to invest in Indian refineries apart from the West Coast refinery. “Aramco is also looking at other opportunities to buy into existing refineries in India and upgrades of existing refineries. So, there are at least three different tracks which I cannot reveal more specifics. One is the greenfield west coast refinery, which is already public, but there are discussions with expansions as well as buying stake into major existing refinery assets,” said Khalid al-Falih, the oil minister of Saudi Arabia, who is also the chairman of the company.“Agreements have been already signed that allows discussions to start on the configuration of the refinery, on design basis and pre-feasibility studies,” he said. This comes a day after Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the country has offered Saudi Arabia a stake in the future strategic oil reserves and has also offered investment opportunities in the west coast refinery and Kakinada petrochemicals plants. The Saudi minister, who also holds the industry portfolio for his country, said he is looking at deeper ties beyond oil with India.
He said, “I come in my capacity today as minister of energy and industry. I am not only looking for oil and energy partnerships, but also petrochemicals, fertilisers, power projects in India that are of attraction to the champions of those fields in Saudi Arabia…”

Falih further added, “India is growing at the fastest rates among the G-20 nations, and it is one of the top eight economies today. So, we want to cement the ties and capture those emerging opportunities including India becoming a big investor in Saudi Arabia as well as finding opportunities for Indian exports and the Make in India strategy of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to leverage the Middle-east’s largest economy, and the anchor of our region with Saudi Arabia.” India has sought reasonable oil prices for its refiners from Saudi Arabia and also participate in the strategic oil reserves. India has built a strategic reserve capacity of 5.3 million tonnes across three locations — Vishakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes), Mangaluru (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes) — costing Rs 4,098 crore.
More reserves will be added in the coming future and a Cabinet approval will be sought within six months, Pradhan said on Friday. Talking about the interest of Saudi Arabia in India’s retail business, Falih said, “In principle yes. But I will leave that to Aramco downstream organisations to look at. I’m not used to the complexities.” India has already signed a business agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to fill the Mangaluru reserve.
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