Russia’s RDIF says to finalise Eurasia drilling deal with Aramco

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Wednesday said it expected to finalise a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco to invest in oilfield services firm Eurasia Drilling.

“We expect to finalize an agreement very shortly to have our energy platform with Saudi Aramco invest in Eurasia Drilling and also provide services to Saudi Aramco,” Kirill Dmitriev said in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Russia also has significant investments in Saudi Arabia’s petrochemicals industry, he said.

Sibur, Russia’s largest producer of petrochemicals, is building a petrochemicals facility in the Kingdom. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak had said in October the deal would be worth $1.1 billion.

“Sibur, jointly with us, is building a petrochemical facility focused on … manufacturing which is really one of the big Russian projects in Saudi Arabia and underscores the potential of cooperation in petrochemicals,” Dmitriev said.

An announcement is also expected later on Wednesday on a partnership between Aramco and an LNG project in Russia, Dmitriev said.

Dmitriev said a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut crude oil supply was stabilizing the oil market.

Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producers, are leading a global oil cut deal between OPEC and some non-OPEC members. The current deal runs through to March 2018.

Report courtesy Reuters