Saudi Arabia has invited "serious foreign investors" into partnerships in mega gas and oil projects designed to boost the kingdom's economy and create more jobs, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Nuaimi said.
The main aim is "to establish strong partnerships and alliances with specialized international companies, and attract foreign investments," said the minister, cited by the Gulf News.
Such partnerships should "build comprehensive industries, starting with gas exploration and extraction ... and ending with vital projects including power generation, water desalination and petrochemicals," Al Nuaimi told the First Forum on investing in the development of the Madina region.
He added that the kingdom, buoyed by high oil prices, has offered three mega gas projects to foreign and local investors in the south Ghawhar field, Shaib-Kadan area in the south and the northern Red Sea.
The three locations cover an area of 440,000 square kilometers, making it the world's largest areas for hydrocarbon investment, the minister said.
Foreign oil executives based in the kingdom attending the forum said they are expecting a decision on awarding the projects within "a few weeks," but Nuaimi said it was still in the preliminary stages.
"Nothing has been done so far. We are still in the preliminary stages of assessing the projects," Nuaimi said when asked to comment on reports that ExxonMobil of the United States has been awarded the lead role in at least one of the projects, said the paper.
The three-day forum was a show-case of potential investment opportunities in Saudi western region in oil, gas, petrochemicals, mining, tourism, agriculture and transportation worth several billion dollars – Albawaba.com
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