NEW DELHI, 6 January 2005 — Saudi Arabia is willing to extend long-term crude oil supply contracts to India provided they are based on strict terms, according to Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi.

Naimi is here to participate in the first ever conference today of Gulf oil producers and major Asian consumers being hosted by India.

According to observers, the diplomatic significance of Naimi’s India-visit transcends this multilateral conference. Naimi called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday. He was accompanied by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to India, Saleh Mohammed Al-Ghamdi. During the 45-minute talks, Naimi delivered a message from the Saudi government expressing sympathy over the massive destruction and casualty caused by the tsunami disaster.

Bilateral significance of Naimi’s visit is marked by the crucial discussions he and his Indian counterpart held.

After a meeting with Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Naimi said yesterday: “We have agreements with a number of countries for supplying crude oil for 30 years. We are open to long-term contracts (with India) but every contract has a price. If the consumer is willing for take-or-pay, I don’t think there is any problem.”

At present, Saudi Arabia is India’s single largest supplier of crude oil.

Naimi and Aiyar also discussed demand, supply, security of supplies and stability of market. Naimi said: “The biggest concern any consuming country has is security of supplies, stable market and fair prices... We, as the world’s largest producer, have committed to security of supplies.”

Naimi and Aiyar also held discussions on mutual investment opportunities. “We discussed opportunities for investment in the two countries. We may invest in India and would welcome investment by Indian companies (in Saudi Arabia),” Naimi said.

“They (Saudi Arabia) are keen on setting up an export refinery with Indian companies,” Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi said.

New Delhi has invited Saudi Aramco to set up a refinery in India that would refine crude oil produced by Gulf producers and the Indo-Saudi joint venture could retail petroleum and petrochemicals produced by the unit in India and neighboring countries, sources said.

On its part, Saudi Arabia has invited Indian companies to set up an oil refinery there, mainly for export of petroleum products to third countries, and has cleared Oil and Natural Gas Corp.’s (ONGC) bidding for gas field development projects.

Saudi Aramco’s top officials will visit New Delhi later this month for talks with ONGC and Indian Oil Corp. to finalize a joint venture for building a refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Naimi and his counterparts from Iran, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, among others, will participate in today’s multilateral conference. While Malaysia is participating in the conference, the Indonesian oil minister canceled his trip due to tsunami. The four principal buyers, participating in the day-long conference, are China, South Korea, Japan and host India.

Organized in cooperation with the International Energy Forum, the roundtable will have representation from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries secretariat and International Energy Agency.