Armanco plans stake in Indian oil refineries

The Dollar Business Bureau

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said the Saudi Arabian Oil Company Armanco is planning to purchase stakes in Indian oil refining and petrochemical projects.

Pradhan met Khalid al-Falih, Chairman of Armanco, and asked for Saudi’s investment in a planned 1.2 million barrels per day (BPD) refinery for the expansion of Dahej’s Bina refinery and petro-chemicals.

In order to meet the country’s growing oil demand, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are planning to build a 1.2 million BPD refinery in the country’s West Coast, costing more than Rs.1 trillion.

In Central India, Bharat Oman Refineries Limited is increasing the capacity of Bina Refinery by 30%, while in Western Gujarat, OPAL, which is majorly owned by Oil and Natural Gas Ltd., is building a petrochemical plant.

Amin Nasser, CEO of Armanco said the company is looking forward to expanding and distributing its investment in India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia.

Armanco said, India would be the major driving force in the energy consumption by 2014, with its oil consumption rising by 6 million BPD to 10 million BPD.

India is one of the largest consumers of crude oil, and it imports 80% of the total oil requirement. During the first quarter, India imported about 21% of its total requirement from Saudi Arabia. 889,000 BPD was sent from Saudi Arabia to India in the first quarter.