Reliance to invest $2 billion in a petrochem facility in UAE

Reliance and Saudi Aramco are forking out in separate directions within weeks of scrapping their proposed mega deal in Reliance’s oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business.

Reliance on Tuesday said it would set up a $2 billion chemicals facility with Aramco rival, the Abu Dhabi oil giant ADNOC, while Saudi Aramco has agreed to sell a 49 per cent stake in its natural gas-pipeline business to a consortium led by Blackrock and Saudi-backed Hassana Investment Company for $15 million.

Reliance and Saudi Aramco last month said they had shelved their plan of the Saudi giant picking up a 20 per cent stake in RIL’s O2C business over valuation differences amid the Mukesh Ambani company’s pronounced tilt towards renewable energy.