Aramco sets ambitious goals for research center in Houston

Innovation and cutting-edge technologies are key strategic enablers to devise solutions that will help us to meet rising energy demand in the future and to turn the industry’s challenges into opportunities, said Khalid Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco.
He made the remarks as Saudi Aramco’s Houston-based subsidiary Aramco Services Co. opened the Aramco Research Center in Houston — its largest in the US — on Sept. 19.
The 60,000-square-foot center, at 16300 Park Row in the Energy Corridor, will create 100 high-tech, scientific and research jobs.
It will focus on upstream research and technology development, in areas such as production management, drilling, reservoir engineering, geology, geophysics and advances related to subsurface sensing and control.
“The Aramco Research Center in Houston is a stand-out, in part because it spans the entire breadth of upstream research and technology development,” the CEO was quoted as saying in a report.
“In our selection of Houston as the home for this center, we are ideally situated to leverage the partners and collaborations that are at the heart of our strategy and critical in achieving the success of our research objectives.”
The new center is part of Saudi Aramco’s increased commitment to research and development, which includes tripling R&D spending and increasing R&D funding five-fold.
It also includes two other new Aramco Research Centers in the US. The Boston center focuses on advanced computational modeling methods, nanotechnology and advanced materials science, and the Detroit center focuses on next-generation fuel-engine systems.
Addressing the event, the CEO added: “We have set ambitious goals for this new research and development center, and reaching them will not be easy. But we are taking on those immense challenges in a city that gave birth to the American petroleum industry, put a man on the moon, and has extended the quality of life for countless men and women through pioneering breakthroughs in health techniques and technologies. So when it comes for shooting for the stars, exploring new frontiers, and doing it in tandem with the best in the business, I know we’re in the right place.”
Al-Falih also said: “Despite our upstream achievements to date, we are not content to rest on our laurels — as the opening of this new research center demonstrates.”
He added: “The Houston center stands out in the crowd, because it will be addressing the entire range of upstream opportunities and challenges, including production and drilling technologies, reservoir engineering, geology, geophysics technologies, and advances related to subsurface sensing and control.”