India’s Reliance Industries Ltd is set to sell a 20% stake in its oil to chemicals business to Saudi Aramco in one of the largest ever foreign investments in the country, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.
“(This is) the biggest foreign investment in the history of Reliance.” Ambani said at the company’s annual general meeting in India’s financial capital Mumbai.
Addressing the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the RIL, Ambani said that Aramco would supply 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Reliance refineries.
The deal is subject to due diligence, definitive agreements and regulatory and other approvals, Ambani said.
Saudi Aramco, is a national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, and is said to be the most profitable company in the world.
Middle Eastern oil giants like Aramco have been expanding into downstream operations as they seek to move from being pure producers to becoming more integrated energy companies.
Aramco has been targeting refining deals in India since at least last year, when Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told reporters that the firm wanted to double capacity to produce gasoline and other fuels.
Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco reported first-half net income of $46.9 billion on Monday, down from $53.02 billion a year earlier.
By comparison, Apple Inc, the world’s most profitable listed company, made $31.5 billion in the first six months of its financial year.
Aramco said total revenues including other income related to sales were at $163.88 billion in the first half of this year, down from $167.68 billion a year earlier, on lower oil prices and reduced production.
WhatsApp us