Aramco to win unconditional EU clearance for SABIC deal: Sources

The world’s top oil producer Saudi Aramco is set to gain unconditional European Union antitrust approval for its proposed deal with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), people familiar with the matter told the Reuters News Agency on Friday. Under the terms of the deal, Aramco will spend $69bn to buy a 70 percent stake in petrochemicals group SABIC, according to Reuters.

Aramco announced the deal to acquire the controlling stake from the sovereign investor Public Investment Fund (PIF) in March last year. The move is key to Aramco’s diversification into refining and petrochemicals. Riyadh-headquartered SABIC, the world’s fourth-largest petrochemicals group, has operations in over 50 countries.

The European Commission declined to comment on the matter. It is scheduled to decide on the case by February 27.

Competition watchdogs in India and several other countries have already given the green light without demanding concessions.

Aramco’s downstream expansion strategy tracks rivals such as Exxon Mobil, BP, Total, and Shell, which have, over the years, transformed themselves from merely oil companies to energy companies with extensive upstream and downstream operations.