Saudi Aramco’s international ventures have to-date been restricted to downstream projects, securing outlets for its core crude oil offerings. Overseas LNG opportunities have been considered, but moving into production outside of Saudi Arabia has been off the radar.

That is now changing, with CEO Amin Nasser telling journalists on 7 August that the firm is willing to consider taking overseas upstream stakes. While emphasizing that “we did not make any commitment for the development of any increments outside the Kingdom for the time being,” he adds that “we will continue to assess available opportunities for development and if there is something that is commercially viable and meets our criteria in terms of investment, we will announce that deal at that time. For the time being it’s all assessment and nothing concrete yet.” (CONTINUED - 331 WORDS)