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Saudi Arabia and Venezuela keen on building refineries in India

Oil exporters Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are interested in building refineries in India, where energy demand is soaring on the back of a robust economy, and participate in exploration, the Economic Times said.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:00 January 19, 2007
  • Gulf News

Mumbai: Oil exporters Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are interested in building refineries in India, where energy demand is soaring on the back of a robust economy, and participate in exploration, the Economic Times said.

Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos De Venezuela SA (PDVSA), is exploring options to build a greenfield refinery in India and buy stakes in oil and gas fields in Krishna Godavari basin off India's east coast, the newspaper said.

"We are looking at getting into refining and marketing activities in this part of the world," PDVSA Chairman Luis F. Vierna was quoted as saying.

He said the company was evaluating options for building a refinery to process Venezuelan crude bought by India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

"The final decision would rest on the government to government negotiations," he said.

India has offered Saudi Arabia's state-run Saudi Aramco stakes in three upcoming refineries, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources.

"Saudi Aramco will partner in Indian Oil Corp's Paradip refinery," it said.

Indian Oil is building a 300,000 barrel per day refinery and petrochemicals complex in the coastal town of Paradip in eastern India at a cost of 11 billion rupees ($249 million).

Officials at Indian Oil could not be reached for comment.

India's state-run refiners are wooing foreign investment to help finance big expansion plans, part of India's vision of becoming a key fuel exporter by end of the decade.

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