An international conference on the oil and gas industry of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, is expected to be held here November 5-7, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi said Friday October 26.
Participants were expected to tackle "investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia's oil and gas, as well as the future of the kingdom's oil and gas industry," a statement from the minister's office in Riyadh said. The delegates were also due to discuss "the creation of new jobs in the Saudi energy sector and opportunities" to increase the Saudi local workforce within the sector, it said.
In June, Riyadh signed preparatory accords with eight oil majors for three giant gas projects worth up to $50 billion. The deals were the first upstream energy projects open to foreign companies since the sector was nationalized in Saudi Arabia a quarter of a century ago.
Saudi Arabia, which sits on top of the world's biggest oil reserves with an estimated 261 billion barrels, has proven natural gas reserves of 220 trillion cubic feet (6.6 trillion cubic meters). The kingdom announced in 1998 it was open to new foreign investment in its energy sector, including extraction, refineries, gas treatment, and the petrochemical field. — (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
