Research and technology
Effective use of cutting-edge technology is seen as strategically important to the long-term success of Saudi Aramco. At AOC we support research and development of new technologies to ensure Saudi Aramco continues as a reliable supplier of energy throughout the 21st century.
Technology alliances
AOC is involved in research and development that addresses both short-term imperatives and long-term challenges. We deliver technological improvements to ongoing oil and gas operations and aim to uncover new opportunities for sustained growth and development of our resources.
A key element to our success is to facilitate collaborative alliances with major universities, companies and institutions that are engaged in the world’s energy challenges. We have an active outreach program to engage with appropriate organizations in this area.
Our remit includes delivering improvements across the spectrum of the hydrocarbon value chain. We work closely with our partners, as well as the upstream and downstream technology focus teams within Saudi Aramco, to create significant improvements in our operations and hence the results we achieve as a business.
Our key focus areas
At any one time there is an extensive range of research being carried out in a number of key focus areas: improving production techniques, minimizing impacts on the environment and sustaining oil and gas reserves for the long term.
With Saudi Aramco we are leveraging technology to minimize the environmental impact of hydrocarbons, including the desulfurization of whole crudes, cleaner fuels, smokeless flares and solutions. We are working with the automotive industries to ensure the next generation of internal combustion engines are designed to run on ultra-clean petroleum fuels. We also support major industry carbon management initiatives and selectively support original external research on the commercial utilization of carbon. A major goal is to help develop low-cost technologies for CO2 capture from both fixed and mobile sources.
Upstream cutting-edge technologies include the utilization of smart wells that use nanotechnology for sensing and also geo-steering. These enable us to navigate drill bits thousands of meters below the earth’s surface from remote control centers hundreds of kilometers from the wellhead. Ground-breaking technologies such as multilateral wells and Resbots™ (nanotechnology for recording reservoir pressure, temperature, fluid type and other properties), will enable us to recover even more oil from our fields.
Our expanding role
AOC’s Research and Technology Unit has a continually expanding role as it works to support Saudi Aramco in addressing both the challenges and opportunities within the energy sector. If you believe your organization can provide or collaborate on technology development in areas of interest to either upstream or downstream operations, you can provide details via the submit your new technology section of this website.
An inside story
To facilitate our support of research and development and technology implementation efforts, we have developed a road map to enable us to use our resources as effectively as possible. The roadmap includes initiating memberships and other networking arrangements with organizations that are leading major technology developments and initiatives in carbon, energy and water management.
These organizations include energy institutes in the UK and the Netherlands; universities and commercial organizations involved in clean fuel research in Europe and Asia; an association of specialist companies in the Netherlands that specializes in water treatment, reuse, and flood mitigation solutions; and a trade association in Norway that covers industries involved in offshore drilling and production services, and associated technology applications.
In addition, as Saudi Aramco begins to explore alternative energy applications that have obvious synergies with the Saudi Arabian environment – solar and wind energy – AOC’s Research and Technology Unit is widening its technology intelligence gathering activities beyond the scope of energy derived purely from our hydrocarbon resources. We have already gathered information and facilitated video conference dialogue with our colleagues in Saudi Aramco that served to highlight current state-of-the-art and emerging technologies in the area of solar energy. With the involvement of our research and technology colleagues in AOC Tokyo, we are interacting with major players in this increasingly important area of the energy mix in the future Saudi Arabian landscape.
SUBMIT YOUR TECHNOLOGY WITH US
If you are interested in supplying a new technology idea, please complete the form below.
