Week 3 in Review: Jafurah to Houston to Dhahran to the skies

Aramco’s big week of news included the conclusion of the Dakar Rally at Ithra, the launch of Aramco Trading Americas in Houston, a feature on our massive Jafurah unconventional gas program, as well as a feature on the first female pilots in Aramco’s Aviation Department.

Here’s a look at our top stories.

Aramco hosts Dakar Rally finale at Ithra

In the presence of HRH Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province, Aramco hosted the conclusion of the Dakar Rally 2023, which reached its final stop at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra). 

With the participation of more than 450 competitors, the Dakar Rally started on Dec. 31, from a sea camp north of Yanbu’, passing through Al Ula, Hail, Ad-Dawadimi, Riyadh, Haradh, and Shaybah in the Empty Quarter, before visiting Hofuf and ending at Ithra in Dhahran. HRH Prince Saud bin Nayef crowned the winners of the race amid a large presence of racing fans. 

The closing ceremony was also attended by: HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and president of the Saudi Motorsport Company; HE deputy minister of Sports, Badr bin Abdulrahman Al-Qadi; Aramco president and CEO, Amin Nasser; Aramco executive vice president of Human Resources and Corporate Services, Nabeel A. Al-Jama’; and a number of officials from the government and private sectors. 

Jafurah: The jewel of our unconventional gas program

The development of the Jafurah unconventional gas field is one of the most ambitious projects in Aramco’s history. 

Covering an area of approximately 17,000 km2, the Jafurah basin presented a unique opportunity to build a large-scale project that aims to contribute to the energy transition.

Jafurah is the largest liquid-rich — containing condensates and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) — shale gas play in the Middle East. Beneath its basin lies an estimated 200 trillion scf of natural gas — which can help reduce emissions and provide feedstock for lower-carbon future fuels.

Extracting large quantities of gas from an unconventional gas field requires both great technical and engineering expertise, and a long-term vision backed by investment.

Such is the enormous scale of the opportunity at Jafurah that $10 billion of contracts are already in place to develop the initial phase of the project.  

When completed, the Jafurah facility aims to ensure the reliable delivery of natural gas and condensates through a dedicated surface network. This network includes a gas processing plant, an NGL fractionation plant, a gas-compression system, and a network of around 1,500 kilometers of main transfer pipelines, flow lines, and gas-gathering pipelines. 

Aramco announces launch of Aramco Trading Americas

Aramco today (Jan. 18, 2023) announces the 100% acquisition of Motiva Trading by the Aramco Trading Company (ATC), one of the world’s leading commodity trading companies, and the launch of Aramco Trading Americas LLC (ATA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ATC based in Houston, Texas.

ATA will be ATC’s regional office, expanding its trading business in North and South America to capture new opportunities and increase its existing customer base.

Under the purchase agreement, ATA will be the sole supplier and ‘offtaker' of Motiva Enterprises, which owns North America’s largest refinery with a crude refining capacity of 630,000 barrels a day, producing consumer and commercial grade fuels and base oils. 

Aramco’s pioneering female pilots get their wings 

Four ambitious, talented women share their experience of being the first to be sponsored, trained, and employed by Aramco to become qualified pilots, and encourage others to follow them into the sky.

Fatimah S. Alghamdi, Dareen A. Alsaleh, Arwa A. Aldakheel, and Ahlam M. Alsubaie spent two years studying at the University of North Dakota in the U.S. 

These pioneering pilots are opening up an exciting new path for women and Aldakheel acknowledges the opportunity has already changed her life. An engineer by training, she never dreamed that she would be a pilot. Before signing up for the course she’d never been to the U.S. “I can honestly say that I never thought I’d be where I am today — Alhamdulillah.” 

“We make our way through despite the obstacles, and I have always been proud of every woman who accomplishes her dreams and ambitions, especially Saudi women,” added Alsubaie. 

VIDEO: Diversifying our lower-carbon solutions to meet demand more reliably 

For over eight decades, we’ve provided the world with energy.

Today, and as global demand rises, we rise to meet those demands. 

Using conventional and unconventional methods, we also aspire to increase gas production by more than half and meet the rising demand for chemicals.