Billionaire Ruias said to hold refinery talks with Aramco, NIOC

MUMBAI, TEHRAN, KUWAIT

Essar Group, controlled by India’s billionaire Ruia brothers, has held preliminary discussions with the national oil companies of Saudi Arabia and Iran about selling a stake in its refinery business, people with knowledge of the matter said. Exploratory talks began last month between Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and the Indian conglomerate about a stake in Essar Oil Ltd., which has a market value of about $5.5 billion (Dh20.20 billion), according to the people. Essar Group officials discussed a potential deal during a meeting with Aramco executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, three of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. (Bloomberg)