Saudi Arabia’s Marasel Company Ltd has entered a joint venture with Bangladesh’s leading business conglomerate Beximco to invest nearly US$1bn to upgrade Bangladesh’s sole oil refinery, Reuters reported.
“Beximco and Marasel Company Ltd of Saudi Arabia will jointly submit interest for funding an upgradation project of the Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL),” a statement from Beximco said.
State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) invited offers in July from international firms and financial institutions to finance the $900 million project near Chittagong port in the south of the country.
“The fund from Beximco and Marasel are likely to be accepted if the terms and conditions are found favourable,” a senior official of BPC told Reuters.
Beximco’s businesses range from textiles to pharmaceuticals. Its subsidiary Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd is listed in London.
The Marasel Company Ltd is owned by Saudi Prince Salman Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and has large investments in different sectors, mainly in energy.
“In line with its business diversification objectives, Beximco Ltd is now poised to enter into the oil and energy sector, and has mobilised necessary resources for this purpose,” the statement said.
Beximco owns the single largest stake in a Bangladesh private bank and a local private airline, a senior executive of Beximco said. But he could not give the size of the conglomerate in terms of equity.
The refinery upgrade will increase ERL’s production capacity by 200% to 4.5 million tonnes per year from 2013.
It presently produces 1.5 million tonnes of petroleum products from imported crude to meet 30% of the country’s requirement of 3.8 million tonnes a year.
