September 24, 2025 [Reuters]- Talks for Saudi state oil giant Aramco to buy a minority stake in Spanish energy firm Repsol’s renewables unit have hit an impasse, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The talks over the potential 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) investment have reached a dead end, and there are no current plans to resurrect them, one of the sources said.

The impasse comes as Aramco has been looking to sell some assets, improve efficiency and cut costs.

The talks started last year, when Reuters reported that Repsol had received an unsolicited approach for a minority stake in its renewable assets unit, which UBS analysts valued at around $6.6 billion in a February research note.

The Spanish company, whose shares have risen 24% in 2025, has been diversifying into renewables and low-carbon businesses, but these areas still represent a small fraction of its revenue.

Repsol and Aramco declined to comment.

Repsol is one of the few European oil companies still keen to invest in renewables, after most European oil majors have pulled back from plans to build out greener technologies because they have proved less profitable than drilling for oil and gas.

The company has kept investing in the energy transition while opening individual renewable projects within the unit to investors for minority stakes in portfolios of wind farms and solar plants to help fund its diversification.

In the past few months, Repsol added production from wind and solar parks in the United States, Chile and Spain. The company is moderating its renewable ambitions to prioritize returns, Repsol’s CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, told analysts recently.

In 2022, Repsol sold a 25% stake in the renewables business to a unit of French bank Credit Agricole and Swiss asset manager Energy Infrastructure Partners for 905 million euros, a deal valuing the whole unit at 4.38 billion euros including debt.