RIYADH- Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said on Tuesday that anti-trust regulations abroad will mean that the company's planned acquisition of a stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) will take time.

The acquisition of the stake, currently held by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, will help Aramco meet its aspiration to be a leader in chemicals, Nasser told an investment conference in Riyadh.

Aramco hired JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to advise on a potential acquisition of as much as 70 percent stake in Saudi Arabia's SABIC, sources told Reuters in July.

Nasser said the Saudi Arabian government is still committed to Aramco's initial public offering, while the timing depends on market conditions and other factors. He added that Aramco cannot list while the SABIC deal is ongoing.

Seperately, he said Saudi Aramco's strategy is to shift two million barrels per day of its production to petrochemicals and hopes it can raise that to three million barrels per day.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal, writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Saeed Azhar) ((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))