India: Refining and Petrochemicals Saudi Aramco to Acquire 20 % Stake in RIL's Oil-to-Chemicals Business

Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries Ltd have entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent and the deal is expected to possess an enterprise value of 75 billion dollars. The transaction is claimed to be one of the largest foreign investments in India.

Mumbai/India – Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) have recently agreed to a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) regarding a proposed investment in the Oil to Chemicals (O2C) division comprising the Refining, Petrochemicals and fuels marketing businesses of RIL. Saudi Aramco’s potential 20 % stake is based upon an Enterprise Value of 75 billion dollars for the O2C division. This would be one of the largest foreign investments ever made in India.

Saudi Aramco and RIL have a long-standing crude oil supply relationship of over 25 years. Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest and lowest cost-per-barrel producer of crude oil, is geographically close to India, and offers a wide range of crude supply options. To date it has supplied approximately 2 billion barrels of crude oil for processing at RIL’s refinery at Jamnagar. RIL’s Jamnagar refinery is the largest and most complex refinery in the world, with deep integration of refining and petrochemical activities across multiple manufacturing facilities. The proposed investment would result in Saudi Aramco supplying 500 KBPD of Arabian crude oil to the Jamnagar refinery on a long term basis.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd said, “I am truly delighted to welcome Saudi Aramco, one of the largest business enterprises in the world, as a potential investor in our Oil to Chemicals division. We have a long-standing crude oil relationship with Saudi Aramco and we would be happy to see this further strengthened with this investment. Saudi Aramco’s interest is a strong endorsement of the quality of our assets and operations as well as of the potential of India.”

Under the non-binding LOI, the proposed investment is subject to due diligence, and the executed definitive agreement will be subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

The parties will make an announcement once a definitive agreement is executed.

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