FILE PHOTO: An Aramco employee walks near an oil tank at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has signed a letter of intent with India's Reliance RELI.NS to potentially buy a stake in its refining and petrochemicals business but talks are at "a very early stage", a senior Aramco executive said on Monday.

“This is very, very early stages of the deal that would allow us to conduct required due diligence going forward,” Khalid al-Dabbagh, senior vice president of finance, told an analyst call after the company reported first half results.