IP Week: Al-Buainain Calls for Collaboration
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Author: Saudi Aramco News
Released 27 February 2008
LONDON, February 27, 2008 -- Today’s industry challenges call for cooperation, Khalid G. Al-Buainain, senior vice president of Refining, Marketing and International, told representatives of major oil companies from around the world at the Feb. 18-21 International Petroleum Week (IP Week).
Khalid G. Al-Buainain poses with Sir Roy Gardner, president of the Energy Institute, at International Petroleum Week in London, where Al-Buainain talked about the importance of industry collaboration.
Al-Buainain, leading the first conference of IP Week, titled “National Oil Companies (NOC) and International Oil Companies (IOC) - New Models of Collaboration,” discussed Saudi Aramco’s perspective on future models of industry cooperation.
But one of his examples came from the past, not the future.
This year, Saudi Aramco celebrates its 75th anniversary. But, he said, it’s not the anniversary of the first well or the first large oil discovery, but rather the signing of an agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California.
“In a very real sense,” said Al-Buainain, “we owe our existence as an organization to an early example of a sensible and successful industry partnership.”
That kind of partnership is important in the current situation, with its increasing demand, escalating costs and shortage of experience.
“A number of these challenges involve complicated technical hurdles that we need to overcome,” he said. “Others center on difficult human resources, financial or political issues. But regardless of the specific issues at hand, I believe that there is ample room for cooperation and collaboration among industry players.”
Khalid G. Al-Buainain, tells industry leaders that partnership is important in an environment of increasing demand, escalating costs and shortage of experience.
Meaningful cooperation includes companies and organizations bringing together their individual strengths, having a good understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities and defining clear objectives that benefit not only the participating companies but also the societies they serve.
“Perhaps just as important is the meshing of organizational cultures and values, and the creative spark that comes when world-class organizations join forces to tackle the biggest, toughest and most pressing issues facing our industry,” Al-Buainain said.
Saudi Aramco’s partnerships are not just historical, he said. The company continues to rely on strong partnerships with a wide range of industry players to meet its commitments as an integrated petroleum enterprise.
“Due to the strength of these relationships,” said Al-Buainain, “Saudi Aramco is in fine form to press ahead with its unprecedented level of activity and project development. And we are in the midst of executing the largest capital program in our 75-year history, working closely with companies from across the Kingdom and around the world.”
On the upstream end, a series of crude-oil increments is slated to bring three million barrels per day of additional capacity. That effort is paralleled by an aggressive natural gas exploration program, with international partners exploring for additional reserves in the Kingdom’s Empty Quarter.
IP Week attendees focus on remarks delivered by Khalid G. Buainain.
Downstream, Al-Buainain said, refineries are being built or expanded around the world with such companies as ConocoPhillips, Total, Shell, Sinopec, ExxonMobil, Sumitomo Chemical and Dow Chemical Co.
“We are very pleased to be working with these firms, and I believe that in the future there will be other attractive in-Kingdom opportunities for strategic investors and companies who can bring their technical expertise, proprietary technologies and market knowledge to joint projects and initiatives.”
Finally, Al-Buainain expressed his belief that Saudi Aramco’s experiences illustrate the value of industry partnerships and the changing nature of those relationships.
“We are no longer a joint enterprise of foreign oil majors operating under a concession agreement,” he said, “yet we still work closely with leading global petroleum corporations of IOCs, NOCs, service companies and specialized vendors in a variety of settings and sectors.”
He said companies could accomplish much more by working together, combining strengths.
“A continued commitment to real partnership,” he said, “is important to the entire planet, given the central role that Saudi Aramco, leading NOCs, international oil majors and both integrated and specialized service companies play in providing a reliable supply of energy to the world.”