Petronas president/group chief executive officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the share purchase deal only involved Saudi Aramco acquiring a 50% stake in Rapid’s refinery and cracker projects, which were a portion of Pengerang Integrated Complex.

“I don’t see any risk in terms of Malaysia’s interests as we are both national oil companies and we have been developing communities in the area we operate.

“It (partnership) is normal, but all these have to be done in commercial terms,” he said at a joint press conference after signing the agreement here today.

Prime Minister Najib Razak and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud witnessed the ceremony.

Present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Rahman Dahlan, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, who is also Saudi Aramco chairman and Saudi Aramco’s president/CEO Amin H Nasser.

Under the partnership, Saudi Aramco will supply up to 70% of the crude feedstock requirements of the Rapid refinery, while natural gas, power and other utilities would be supplied by Petronas.

On the new partner in the Rapid project, Wan Zulkiflee said it was normal for a company in the oil and gas industry to have partnerships.

“If you look into our history in terms of partnerships, it’s nothing new for Petronas. We have many partners,” he said.

On the partnership with Saudi Aramco, he said the companies shared a lot of strategic fits in terms of experience, professionalism and culture.

He said since Saudi Aramco was the biggest crude exporter, the partnership would also gain Petronas long-term crude supply security.

Meanwhile, Amin said Saudi Aramco was proud to be a part of the partnership and described Malaysia as the market that the company had always wanted to invest in.

“Malaysia is a growth market for us and has strong gross domestic product growth.”

Rahman said the purchase agreement was a sign of foreign investors’ confidence in Malaysia and it was the second largest foreign investment announced to date after the RM144 billion investment from China.