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Kamal Narang

Working hand-in-hand: Mr Abdallah S Jum’ah (right), President & CEO, Saudi Aramco, and Mr Mukesh Ambani, CMD, Reliance Industries, in the Capital on Wednesday -

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 26 Even as Saudi Aramco has not made any investments in India, its President and CEO, Mr Abdallah S. Jum’ah, said that the company did make an attempt to forge an alliance, but has not been successful.

Speaking at GreatCorps World Business Statesman Lecture here on Wednesday, he said that inter-dependence is a point of strength, rather than a sign of weakness. Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabia are continuing to work hand-in-hand with the Indian petroleum sector.

“Oil already accounts for more than 35 per cent of India’s primary energy consumption, and is set to grow in both absolute and percentage terms… And because India’s own petroleum reserves are limited, that means a growing reliance on oil imports,” he added.

In fact, the IEA forecasts India’s petroleum imports to triple between now and 2030, at which point India will be the world’s third largest importer of petroleum, with volumes roughly equivalent to Japan’s current imports, he said. “India is no longer a passive bystander when it comes to global energy dynamics, but a mover and shaper of trends; India’s increasing role in the realm of energy is part of a wider shift in global power and influence from the developed world,” he added.

Talking about Reliance Industries, he said the company Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani, had told him that the company would start diverting oil products to the local market to meet the growing demand.

In his address, Mr Mukesh Ambani said, globally a stable oil pricing regime was needed to sustain investments and economic growth. He said that “when in 1999 we started our first refinery at Jamnagar, we saw a recession globally and when we are about to start our second refinery (at Jamnagar), history is repeating itself.”

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