Kuwait Petroleum Corporation emphasised on Thursday it wants to invest in a completely “new project” in the refinery and petrochemicals sector in India.
With RIL, IndianOil having none, possibilities are hazy
NEW DELHI: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) emphasised on Thursday it wants to invest in a completely “new project” in the refinery and petrochemicals sector in India.
It has held meetings with two of the country’s biggest refiners, Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation.
KPC’s chief executive officer Saad Al-Shuwaib said, “We are looking for something either with Reliance or any other company.”
He said the investment might happen as soon as possible.
When asked how viable would be the investment considering that India has excess refinery capacity, he said, “We would like to invest in Asia.”
The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance group has one refinery that is an export oriented unit in Jamnagar, and is the country’s biggest in terms of capacity.
The other refinery is being put up by group company Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and would an anchor investment for a special economic zone being planned by the group.
Both the refineries are on the west coast and may not strictly qualify for being new projects.
Besides, RPL has a 5% equity holding of Chevron which is its competitor as far as crude production goes.
There have been reports that Chevron may exit RPL that may clear the way for KPC but sources said none of the big players might want to be part of a project with an insignificant share in a refinery project.
IndianOil’s Paradeep refinery that is yet to reach a stage of financial closure and will be situated on the east coast may also tap the export market for petroleum products.
Union minister of petroleum Murli Deora said the tie-up could be for a export oriented refinery since it would help in propping up exports and building India’s foreign exchange reserves.
He added that Kuwait has been a reliable partner for India.
B M Bansal, director (business development), IndianOil said, “We have reached an understanding for investment in India, Kuwait and the third countries.”
He did not elaborate on the nature of investment.
The KPC delegation held discussions with RIL brass on Wednesday and Thursday, and had a luncheon meeting with IndianOil.
KPC had some years back shown interest in picking up equity in IndianOil’s Paradeep refinery in Orissa but backed out later.
KPC, like other state-owned companies of the West Asia, has never really invested much in terms of equity share in any of the Indian refineries and have been more keen in selling their crude oil here. IndianOil alone imports about 6-7 million tonne crude oil from Kuwait.
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