RIYADH, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- China is "a very important and central market" for and a long-term "strategic partner" of Saudi Aramco, an executive of the Saudi oil giant said recently, voicing optimism about the Chinese economy and its future development.
"It's a very important country. We have positive outlooks and positive views on the Chinese economy and where it is heading," said Ashraf Al Ghazzawi, Saudi Aramco's executive vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development.
Since delivering its first crude oil shipment to China in 1991, Saudi Aramco has maintained cooperative ties with the country for more than three decades. China is not only a major crude oil export destination, but also a key partner across multiple areas, Al Ghazzawi said.
"China is a very important central partner for our downstream liquids-to-chemical strategy," he said, with most of its overseas investments in this area made alongside Chinese partners, Al Ghazzawi noted.
One example is the Fujian Sinopec Aramco Refining and Petrochemical Co., Ltd., the fifth joint venture between Aramco and Sinopec. The project will oversee the construction and operation of an integrated refining and petrochemical complex featuring a 16-million-ton-per-year crude oil refining unit, a 1.5-million-ton-per-year ethylene unit, a paraxylene and downstream derivatives capacity of 2 million tons per year, and a crude oil terminal with a capacity of 300,000 tons.
Al Ghazzawi said the partnership extends beyond energy into supply-chain cooperation, technology, and innovation. He cited Aramco's collaboration with China's Baosteel to localize steel plate manufacturing in Saudi Arabia. He also noted that Aramco operates two overseas research and development teams in China, while its largest venture capital team in Asia is also based there.
Saudi Aramco is further pursuing international cooperation in artificial intelligence, Al Ghazzawi said, adding the company would like to partner and develop AI-based technologies with all countries that have a competitive edge and a leading position.
He added that Aramco already uses AI to optimize oil and gas field development by leveraging historical seismic and exploration data, generating real-time operational insights to reduce costs and emissions, and predicting equipment failures.
Regarding global energy demand, Al Ghazzawi noted that although the world is undergoing a low-carbon transition, overall oil demand continues to rise steadily, and demand for gas and petrochemicals is also increasing.
"Gas has also been acknowledged as a long-term fuel. It's no longer being viewed as a bridge or a transition fuel," Al Ghazzawi said. Saudi Aramco considers gas part of its long-term energy strategy and is actively expanding its natural gas production capacity, targeting sales gas production capacity growth of approximately 80 percent between 2021 and 2030.
He added that Aramco is also an investor in renewable energy, together with ACWA Power and the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Aramco is expected to account for about 20 percent of the kingdom's renewable energy capacity by 2030. ■
