Saudi Aramco formally signed upstream gas agreements on Sunday with Russian, Chinese, Italian and Spanish companies.
At separate ceremonies for each of three contract areas in the North Rub' Al-Khali, joint venture companies were created with Russian company Lukoil for Contract Area A, Chinese company Sinopec for Contract Area B, and a consortium comprising Italian company ENI and Spanish company Repsol YPF for Contract Area C. Saudi Aramco is a 20 percent partner in each of the joint ventures.
The agreements are for non-associated gas exploration and development. Lukoil, Sinopec and the ENI-Repsol consortium were declared the winners in late January of a transparent bidding process. Saudi Aramco's initial investments required for the three areas during the first exploration phase of the agreements is expected to exceed three billion Saudi riyals ($799 million), said the Kingdom's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali I. Al-Naimi.
"The Kingdom's objectives for these investments," Al-Naimi said "are to increase gas reserves, to increase gas production and meet development requirements, to diversify income sources by making gas and associated products available to various industries, to create more employment opportunities for our citizens and to support the efforts of Saudi contractors and suppliers." — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
