Leading global energy innovation

In the United States

The focus of our United States presence spans a variety of sectors; from unconventional reservoir engineering, to drilling, production, computational modeling, advanced materials, and transportation. Our center in Houston primarily focuses on upstream technologies for both conventional and unconventional resources, for the purpose of supporting discovery, recovery, and sustainability goals. Specializing in many research areas, including improving well-productivity, nano-based polymers, drilling operations and more, our Houston center is our largest R&D center outside Saudi Arabia.

Our second center in the U.S. is located in Boston, and houses research specializing in computational modeling, advanced materials, and nanotechnology. The innovative ecosystem surrounding the center provides it with collaborative research opportunities with top world universities, focusing on modeling, visualization, simulation, and applications of advanced materials.

The third center is strategically located in Detroit, near leading auto manufacturers and technology providers, to complement its development of state-of-the-art technologies for the transportation sector. It focuses on transportation technologies that reduce the overall environmental impact, and the running costs, of both current and future engines.

In Europe

The research centers in Europe – situated in Paris, Moscow, Aberdeen, and Delft — further contribute to our efforts to develop innovative technological solutions. The Paris Research Center develops technologies that address concerns associated with fuels and the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). It is strategically located at IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPen), a French public sector research, innovation and training center, carrying out research in energy, transportation, and the environment. This strategic placement grants us access to IFPen's world-class facilities, as well as their links to leading European auto-manufacturers, and supports our advanced fuel-technology solutions.

In Moscow, our R&D facility focuses on upstream technologies in sustainability, advanced sensing, petrophysics, simulation, modeling, and advanced materials, while capitalizing on 4IR technologies such as data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). Like our other global centers, our center in Moscow collaborates with other entities on its research projects, including Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The Aberdeen Center specializes in drilling and production technologies. Established in Scotland, this center is also the location of the European branch of Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), our investment and energy development arm, which builds relationships with other energy technology companies to support the creation of new technologies.

Located at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, our Dutch center supports our efforts to better understand our subsurface geology, through its focus on seismic processing and subsurface imaging.

Machines that learn

Much of our R&D work is underpinned by 4IR technologies. Virtual Flow Metering (VFM), for example, which has been developed by our EXPEC ARC team in collaboration with our research centers in Moscow and Houston, uses computer software to predict oil, water, and gas flows, without the need to install physical meters. This happens by feeding physical data about pressure and temperature into an AI algorithm.

Data science and high-performance computing solutions, including seismic imaging, reservoir simulation, and geological modeling, are being used to optimize upstream operations. At ARC KAUST, AI and machine learning enable us to predict and simulate operational performance digitally, minimizing the number of experiments and field visits required for data collection. Harnessing 4IR technologies has a range of benefits, from improving productivity and profitability, to enhancing safety, efficiency and sustainability.

Lowering carbon emissions

Our R&D centers are engaged in developing a number of technologies focused on lowering emissions. These include our potentially transformative technology, mobile carbon capture (MCC), which is designed to lower the carbon footprint of the transport sector. The latest engineering design of Aramco’s MCC technology, demonstrated on a Toyota Camry vehicle, is able to reduce up to 25% of the emitted CO2  from the tailpipe. This technology still has a way to go before it is market-ready, but we believe it offers significant promise.

ARC KAUST is researching the use of carbon fiber and glass fiber for applications including piping, tools, and construction – advancing the use and development of non-metallic materials. Our non-metallic centers, located in the United States, England, and China, further contribute to accelerating non-metallic innovations, particularly in the oil and gas, and building and construction sectors.