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NEW DELHI, Jan 27 (Reuters) India and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to develop a strategic energy partnership to boost ties between Asia's third-largest consumer and the world's top oil exporter. Saudi Arabia last week signed a similar broad agreement with China, another vital Asian market for oil producers and as keen as India to secure its energy supplies.

The Delhi deal seeks to increase the export of Saudi oil to India, which already accounts for a quarter of India's crude imports.

It also aims to promote joint investments by private and state-run firms in energy projects in both countries, a joint statement issued by the two governments said.

"Both countries will develop a strategic energy partnership based on complementarity and interdependence," said the joint statement at the end of a four-day visit to India by Saudi King Abdullah.

Friday's agreement is the latest in a series of pacts signed by India with foreign governments and Western oil firms, hoping to win access to oil and gas fields abroad although many of these initiatives have not yielded tangible results so far. India's oil ministry officials were upbeat. "This is a fabulous agreement. Next month the India-Saudi Arabia working group on hydrocarbon cooperation will meet.

We'll thrash out the details of what our leaders have said," said a top official of India's oil ministry, who did not want to be named.

King Abdullah said it was the first joint declaration ever signed by any Saudi monarch with any country. The two countries also aim to jointly invest in oil and gas projects in other countries although this would draw them into competition with Western majors, also keen to tie up with state firms. Other areas of cooperation include a gas-based fertiliser plant in Saudi Arabia and investments in India's oil refining, marketing and storage in India, the statement said.

Indian refiners have been courting foreign oil firms such as Shell and BP to invest in new refineries being planned to turn the oil-deficient country into a large exporter of refined products.

Analysts say India's ambitious plans to boost refining capacity make it an attractive market for Saudi Arabia, which aims to boost oil output capacity to 12.5 million barrels per day by late 2009.

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