Here’s the list of major deals signed, awarded by Saudi Aramco in 2018

Despite the volatility in the oil market, state-owned Saudi Aramco continued to invest and expand in the energy sector, with emphasis on the downstream business.

At the end of the year, the oil major finally announced its entry into the Kingdom's fuel retailing market, a move that will help it to open up a “new and stable” source of revenue.

Earlier this year, Aramco's chief executive officer Amin Nasser unveiled plans to invest $500 billion over the next ten years, including $160 billion for natural gas developments and $100 billion for chemicals projects, excluding its proposed purchase of a majority stake in SABIC, the Middle East’s largest chemical business.

Argaam has compiled a list of major deals signed and awarded by the oil giant over the course of 2018.

January

- Saudi Arabia’s cabinet changed the status of Saudi Aramco into a joint-stock company as of Jan. 1, according to Kingdom’s official gazette. The state will remain the direct major shareholder in the oil giant, while the company’s first board of directors will be formed upon a cabinet decree, as proposed by the minister of energy.

February

- The oil major awarded the United Kingdom’s energy and engineering services firm Wood a major contract to help it deliver Marjan oil field in the Eastern Province.

March

- The national oil company and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) formed two joint ventures for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in order to build a new refinery, cracker and selected petrochemical facility.

April

- Saudi Aramco appointed five new board members, including its first female director.

- The oil major and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) awarded US engineering company KBR a contract for their crude oil-to-chemicals complex.

- Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding with Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd to jointly develop and build an integrated mega refinery and petrochemicals complex worth $44 billion at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.

May

- The state-owned oil company will pay dividend on a quarterly basis, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Finance said, adding the company has already paid out a large portion of dividend for Q1 2018.

- Saudi Aramco awarded 16 local companies deals worth more than SAR 26 billion as part of its program to expand the Kingdom’s domestic industrial base and manufacturing.

June

- The oil giant inked a shareholder deal with National Oilwell Varco to form a joint venture partnership to establish an integrated world-class on-shore rig and equipment manufacturing and aftermarket facility in Ras Al-Khair in Saudi Arabia.

July

- Saudi Aramco signed a $590 million contract with Turkey's Tefken Construction for building of a satellite gas compression plants pipeline for the Haradh Gas Increment Program.

- The national oil company confirmed it is in talks with the Public Investment Fund for the acquisition of a potential stake in SABIC.

August

- Saudi Aramco, Air Products and ACWA Power signed a term sheet to form a gasification/power joint venture at Jazan Economic City.

The new venture will purchase the gasification assets, power block and the associated utilities from Saudi Aramco for about $8 billion.

September

- The oil major joined hands with the world’s largest car manufacturers to launch new research programs and develop new fuel and engine combinations.

- Saudi Aramco will spend more than SAR 500 billion on oil and gas drilling over the next decade, said company's senior vice president for upstream Mohammed Al-Qahtani.

October

- The state-owned oil firm and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) announced the commissioning of the AB-4 pipeline, a new phase in the strategic Saudi-Bahrain crude oil pipeline. The new pipeline aims to meet Bahrain's growing energy demand and will be capable of transporting up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

- Saudi Aramco and French energy producer Total signed a joint development agreement for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) work at their giant petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City. 

- Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) is likely to take place by late 2020 or early 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in an interview at the royal court.

November

- Saudi Aramco is likely to begin the construction of a new onshore rig and equipment manufacturing and aftermarket facility, in a joint venture with US-based National Oilwell Varco by the end of 2018.

- The oil company plans to invest $500 billion over the next ten years, including $160 billion for natural gas developments and $100 billion for chemicals projects, said CEO Amin Nasser. The spending would be in addition to the oil giant's proposed purchase of a majority stake in SABIC.

- Saudi Aramco and SABIC said their planned integrated industrial complex to convert crude oil to chemicals will be built in Yanbu, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The facility is expected to process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which will produce around nine million tons of chemicals and base oils annually.

December

- State-run oil major and the Saudi Information Technology Company signed a memorandum of understanding to create Information and Communication Technology Investment Company, a joint venture that will invest in commercial enterprises in the information, communication and technology sector.

- Saudi Aramco and Raytheon Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture company that will develop and provide best-in-class cybersecurity services in Saudi Arabia and the region.

- The oil major announced the creation of the Saudi Aramco Retail Company (RetailCo), a wholly-owned subsidiary, in order to cater to the Kingdom's fuel retail business.  

Write to Parag Deulgaonkar at parag.d@argaamplus.com