Report: Saudi Aramco, SABIC mull investment in Russia – min

MOSCOW, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Saudi Aramco and state petrochemical company Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) are considering investment in Russian gas and petro chemistry projects, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in an interview to Arab News daily published on Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with Russia spreads outside the partnership under the OPEC+ oil output reduction deal. “I would like to point out that some leading Russian companies are considering investment into the kingdom, as well as Saudi Aramco and SABIC are studying investment into promising projects in the spheres of gas and petro chemistry in Russia,” he said.

Saudi Aramco has been negotiating participation in the Arctic LNG-2 liquefied natural gas project of Russia’s Novatek for more than 18 months, but it announced a deal to buy 25% in the first stage of the Port Arthur project in the U.S. in May.

Vedomosti business daily reported later that Saudi Aramco terminated negotiations with Novatek possibly as the offered stake was lesser than expected by the Saudi company, and as the deal bore sanctions risks. But after that, Bloomberg reported quoting sources that the company did not terminate the negotiations and that it may continue them.

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