Aramco Drives Pragmatism and Innovation at CERAWeek

Aramco’s presence at this year’s S&P Global’s CERAWeek and Innovation Agora Conference in Houston served as an ideal platform to showcase the Company’s commitment to driving innovation and advancing a grounded viewpoint centered around market realities.

Aramco President and CEO, Amin H. Nasser, set the tone with a pragmatic plenary speech, advocating for a more realistic energy model that is multi-source, multi-speed, and multi-dimensional.

Nasser was followed by seven Aramco and affiliate leaders, who participated as speakers or panelists and further advanced the dialogue around the industry's challenges and opportunities, touching on the need for a multi-faceted, pragmatic, and collaborative approach.

Driving innovation

An integral part of Aramco’s conference presence was the Aramco Agora House, serving as a dedicated technology space for engagement and dialogue. The Aramco Agora House drew in daily crowds with engaging technology displays and presentations that showcased Aramco’s commitment to innovation. Upstream, downstream and transport technologies were presented by more than 15 researchers from our U.S. R&D centers, who were on hand to answer questions and highlight the latest innovations.

At Aramco’s Agora space, visitors had the opportunity to learn about R&D’s Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions (LGGE) and Archie interactive platforms, innovative engine technologies such as the dedicated hybrid TJCCI Engine, advancements in Natural Hydrogen Exploration, CO2 to Concrete work, and the latest Robotics projects, among other innovations showcased.

“Collaboration and leveraging R&D’s collective strengths is vital to advancing new technologies,” said Mohammad Alaskar, director, Aramco Americas Research & Development. “We are focused on developing advanced technologies to bring forward a new generation of energy solutions.”

Fostering partnerships

As in years prior, Aramco Ventures partners delivered engaging talks at the Aramco Agora House. Conference attendees were able to hear from eight innovative startups consisting of Xpansiv, Carbon Clean, NuMat, Daphne Technology, Pulsora, Nexwafe, EnerVenue, and Carbon Capture.

Highlighting the importance of innovation, Saudi Aramco recently allocated an additional $4 billion to Aramco Ventures, which will more than double the capital allotted, increasing its total investment allocation from $3 billion to $7 billion. This will take Aramco’s overall venture capital allocation to $7.5 billion, which also includes the $500 million venture capital fund Wa’ed Ventures.

Collective reach

In addition to Aramco’s conference participation, Aramco affiliates had a presence at the World Petrochemical Conference (WPC) 2024, held by S&P Global concurrently with CERAWeek. SABIC CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh led productive engagements during the WPC conference, while Ryan Hodgkinson, managing director, Aramco Trading Americas, participated in a panel on carbon markets, and Bob Maughon, SABIC EVP, CTO and CSO, provided a keynote address on innovation and sustainability.

This year’s participation at CERAWeek, Innovation Agora and WPC, underscored the Aramco Group’s shared belief in driving innovation, collaboration, and pragmatism. The three conferences brought together approximately 10,000 delegates from all over the world to share ideas and work collaboratively toward a more pragmatic energy future.