H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of Saudi Aramco and Governor of PIF, to join the Board of Reliance Industries as Independent Director

During the 44th AGM, Reliance Industries has announced that H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of Saudi Aramco and Governor of PIF will join the Board of Reliance Industries as an Independent Director. “I welcome H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of Saudi Aramco and Governor of PIF, to join the Board of Reliance Industries as Independent Director. His joining our Board is also the beginning of the internationalisation of Reliance,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL.

His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan is Saudi Aramco chairman and Governor of the Kingdom’s wealth fund Public Investment Fund. Saudi Aramco is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. As of 2020, it is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue. Saudi Aramco has both the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 270 billion barrels (43 billion cubic metres) and the largest daily oil production of all oil-producing companies.

Mukesh Ambani also stated that the internationalisation details will be revealed gradually in the new future. In 2019, Mukesh Ambani had announced the sale of a 20% stake in the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world’s largest oil exporter. The Aramco deal was one of the most keenly followed developments in the RIL AGM that had only a small mention in the AGM.

While Mukesh Ambani did not announce the details of the deals, he said, “Continued engagement and resolve from both sides, even during this pandemic, is a testimony of a strong relationship between Saudi Aramco and Reliance. I expect our partnership to be formalised in an expeditious manner this year.”

An announcement of Al-Rumayyan’s induction on the RIL board or the board of the newly carved oil-to-chemical (O2C) unit may come as early as at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on June 24 an HSBC report had predicted. the report also speculated that Reliance would announce that Aramco's 20% stake buying in Reliance's O2C biz. Details for the same are unknown, but if the deal comes through, it will allow Reliance to build financial muscle as it carves out space for itself in highly competitive omnichannel retail.