Petronas, Saudi Aramco to ink deal during Saudi King's visit

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Saudi Aramco will sign an agreement during a weekend visit by Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a statement on Friday.

"During His Majesty King Salman's visit, we will be signing a number of new agreements and memorandums of understanding. 

“One of these will involve two of our largest state-owned companies, Saudi Aramco and Petronas. These agreements will benefit our countries and our peoples," he said in a statement posted on the Prime Minister's Office website.

Najib said the visit by was at the invitation of Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong XV, Sultan Muhammad V.

“Bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia has been on a strong upward trajectory in recent years, increasing by 20% in 2016 alone, to a total of RM13.12bil. Today, Saudi Arabia is one of Malaysia's largest trading partners,” he said.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Petronas and Aramco are expected to sign an agreement to collaborate on a 300,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Malaysia's southern state of Johor that is valued at US$27bil.