Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), Aramco’s corporate ventures subsidiary, is investing in Sekal, a Norwegian company that makes drilling operation software. Two-year-old Sekal’s other shareholders are: IRIS, Statoil Technology Invest and SåkorninVest. Sekal’s technology will reduce downtime and costs in Aramco’s drilling operations.

SAEV was established in 2012 and invests globally in start-up and high-growth companies with technologies of strategic importance to Saudi Aramco and accelerates their development and their deployment in the Kingdom. It considers investments in companies from seed stage to growth venture capital in order to develop technologies relevant to upstream, downstream, renewable energy, energy efficiency and water. (CONTINUED - 299 WORDS)