Saudi Aramco has signed deals totaling a reported $50 billion with various US firms that will pave the way for the state-run firm to “enhance its business synergy with the US as well as attract investments from its US counterparts to the kingdom.”
The agreements were signed May 20 in Riyadh in the presence of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and US President Donald Trump by Aramco Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Amin H. Nasser and his US counterpart.
A list of the deals, some of which were previously announced and therefore updated, includes:
• A deal with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to form a Saudi Arabia-based combine that will provide professional program and construction management services for building and system projects in the kingdom. The parties also agreed to form a combine to provide services in the Middle East and North Africa. The deal is expected to create 3,000 jobs.
• A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with National Oilwell Varco to form a Saudi combine that will provide high-specification drilling rigs and advanced drilling equipment. The MOU also will establish an education center to train Saudi technicians in the maintenance and operation of the drilling technology. The MOU is expected to created 1,000 jobs.
• An Aramco-GE MOU for an oil and gas investment study that will examine the feasibility of new business development across the energy value chain including enablers covering upstream, midstream, and downstream ecosystems. The MOU is expected to create 2,000 jobs.
• An Aramco-GE MOU to undertake a digital transformation of Aramco’s operations with a goal of generating $4 billion/year in productivity improvements. A staffed digital transformation office is expected to generate 250 high-tech Saudi jobs.
• An updated MOU with Rowan for the creation of offshore drilling company in-kingdom.
• A nonbinding MOU through which the partners to Rex Offshore will develop the designs of the jack up rigs that they intend to manufacture through the Ras Al Khair Maritime Yard in Saudi Arabia. This agreement is an extension to one signed in November 2016 that created a 50-50 joint venture to own, operate, and manage offshore drilling rigs in Saudi Arabia. This MOU is expected to create 1,000 jobs.
• An updated MOU with Nabors to explore improving land drilling supply logistics, services deployment, and rig moves for the Onshore Rig Ownership & Operations JV. The MOU is expected to create 1,000 jobs.
• An MOU with McDermott International Inc. to expand and develop the company’s physical and human capital within the kingdom as part of Aramco’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program. McDermott plans to increase the number of Saudi nationals in its Middle East workforce and is expected to create 3,000 jobs.
• An MOU with Honeywell that will advance the digitization of the oil and gas industry and accelerates the benefits of the industrial internet of things within Aramco’s operations. The MOU is expected to create more than 400 jobs.
• An MOU with Honeywell to jointly explore the potential for new engineering capabilities and systems to be developed at several of Saudi Arabia’s industrial centers, supporting the IKTVA Program’s objectives of increased investment, economic diversification, job creation, and workforce development within the kingdom.
• Three separate MOUs with Schlumberger Ltd., Halliburton Co., and Weatherford International to each deliver a series of projects related to localizing oil field goods and services. The separate MOUs are expected to create a respective 2,600, 750, and 900 jobs.
