NEW DELHI: One of India’s largest suppliers of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has been offered a chance to participate in the second phase of India’s strategic oil project even as middle eastern oil firms have started concrete discussions on the possibility of picking up stakes in two large refinery projects.
The invite extended to Saudi Arabia comes in the wake of the Indian government announcement earlier this year that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will make its first shipment to the Mangalore strategic oil reserve, constructed as part of the first phase. The government has set up around five million tonnes of strategic crude oil storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Mangaluru and Padur (near Udupi) in Karnataka.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who had a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid A Al Falih on Friday, also stated that discussions on investment opportunities in India’s refinery projects have now moved on from mere expressions of interest to the “discussion of modalities”.
Of the two refineries under question, the first is the proposed Rs 1.8 lakh crore refinery complex in Maharashtra -- which when finished will be the largest in the country. Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), the world’s largest oil firm, is eying a stake there, and had expressed interest as early as April last year. The second is the Rs 33,000 crore petrochemical complex coming up in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, where Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is negotiating for a stake. “They are more than interested,” Pradhan said. “Both sides agreed to conclude discussions regarding concrete investment proposals in a time-bound manner,” an official statement said.
Meanwhile, India has reiterated its long standing demand for better prices that “reasonably” balances the interest of producer and consuming nations. Pradhan said India has been asking the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to stop charging a premium from its Asian buyers.