Could one of the energy industry’s longest-running on-again, off-again romances be catching fire again? Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman seems to think so.
“There are discussions happening right now about a 1% acquisition by one of the leading energy companies in the world” in state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., he said in a local television interview Tuesday.
Prince Mohammed didn’t disclose which company might make the investment, but you don’t have to be a Jane Austen protagonist to work out the most likely partner. Reliance Industries Ltd. NSE -0.20 %, owner of the world’s biggest oil refinery, has been dancing the quadrille with Saudi Aramco for nearly two years. At current prices, 1% of Aramco would be worth about $19 billion — not far off the $15 billion price tag put on 20% of Reliance’s energy division, at the time the Saudi company first took an interest in buying a stake in 2019.
