RIYADH, Nov 6: Saudi Arabia intends to lure more private and foreign investment into its huge energy sector by creating a holding company for the energy services and support industry, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday.

The Ministry of Petroleum is in the advance stages of setting up a holding company specialised in energy services and support industries with the participation of the private sector, he told an energy conference in Riyadh.

Foreign investors would be welcome to take a stake in the energy services holding firm, envisaged along the lines of Saudi industrial giant SABIC 70 per cent government-owned and 30 per cent owned by Saudi and Gulf citizens.

Foreign investors would be “absolutely welcome”, said Ibrahim Al-Muhanna, senior adviser to Naimi.

Naimi said the kingdom’s General Investment Fund had completed a study on the holding company, but Muhanna, speaking to reporters before the minister’s speech, declined to comment on its capitalisation or a startup date.

The scope for investment in the kingdom’s energy services industry would include geological surveys, drilling, engineering design, pipes and pumps.

The kingdom has already opened up its gas sector the world’s fourth biggest to foreign investors, selecting eight international oil companies for its gas development initiative, worth $25 billion in its initial stages.

Naimi also said he expects the creation of a Riyadh-based body aimed at promoting dialogue between oil producers and consumers by November 2002.—Reuters