Saudi Arabia plans to develop an international energy exploration and production business for the first time, doubling down on oil and gas even as the kingdom seeks to curb its reliance on hydrocarbons. Khalid al Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and chairman of state oil company Saudi Aramco, told the Financial Times that overseas expansion would be a critical part of the company’s future. “We are no longer going to be inward-looking and focused only on monetising the kingdom’s resources,” Mr Falih said. “Going forward the world is going to be Saudi Aramco’s playground.”
While Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil producing company, it has never meaningfully ventured overseas to extract resources, relying on its vast domestic reserves. When asked if Saudi Arabia plans to become an international energy player like Royal Dutch Shell or Exxon Mobil, pumping oil as well as gas overseas, Mr Falih said: “Correct”. Despite ambitious reforms driven by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, to wean the kingdom off what he has called its “dangerous addiction to oil”, Mr Falih mapped out Saudi Arabia’s plans to invest more in the sector that has underpinned its traditional economy.
The move underscores how Saudi Arabia is likely to remain dependent on its oil and gas prowess for raising revenues, as it struggles to diversify into new sectors such as technology, tourism, healthcare, and m1n1ng. Mr. Falih said oil and gas, which has dominated its economy for decades, would ultimately still make up at least 40-50 percent of the kingdom’s revenues even if ambitious reforms took hold.