Aramco and Shell sign upstream/LNG MoU
Saudi Aramco has signed various memoranda of understanding (MoUs) at last week’s UK-Saudi CEO Forum in London.
This was staged to promote business and cooperation between the UK and Saudi Arabia, and to coincide with an official visit to the UK by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Aramco and Shell agreed to jointly pursue international gas business opportunities, including upstream development, liquefaction projects and other parts of the gas value chain.
Another MoU with Imperial College London should lead to the creation of joint projects targeting frontier technologies and developments in chemical engineering, petroleum and geoscience, mechanical engineering, and advanced materials.
A third MoU is with Cambridge-based welding/materials engineering specialist TWI. This should lead to formation of the Non-Metallic Innovation Centre at TWI alongside National Structural Integrity Research Centre, a partnership with various academic institutions, research centres, energy companies and composite materials manufacturers.
Aramco staff also signed a commercial agreement with Aberdeen-based Downhole Products, designed to strengthen Aramco’s drilling operations.
Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser, speaking at the forum, pointed out that his company had committed to a major investment programme over the next ten years. “This includes a number of large world scale projects where British businesses can play a major role,” he said.
“With Vision 2030, I believe there are more opportunities for collaboration and partnerships, not only in the oil and gas sector but also in infrastructure, manufacturing and services industries…
“Saudi Aramco has nearly 4,000 registered British vendors and contractors. In the last ten years we have spent nearly US$10 billion in services and materials contracts with British service providers.
“We currently have more than 200 active contracts with British companies. The businesses range from engineering and construction, drilling equipment, power generation machinery and quality management services.”
Source: Offshore Magazine