According to Bloomberg, Saudi Aramco and Russian petrochemical producer Sibur Holding are in talks to potentially form a joint venture to make synthetic rubber in the kingdom.
The 2 companies are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for the project in October 2017, when Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz visits Russia.
The agreement will be the 1st project with a Russian company that will not involve energy exploration or production.
Talks are said to be in the initial stages.
Saudi Aramco and Sibur aspire to expand in the petrochemical field since Aramco is willing to diversify income sources through introducing several projects in the refining and petrochemical fields.
Sibur has been expanding in markets outside Russia since 2011 when the company reached an agreement with Sinopec to set up 2 rubber joint ventures.