RIYADH, 10 April — The signing of memorandums of understanding between the Saudi government and multinationals intending to invest in Kingdom’s gas projects is expected to start by the end of this month, according to reliable sources.
The ministerial committee empowered to negotiate with the international companies will hold two meetings shortly. They will discuss the recommendations of the negotiating team on choosing the companies to form a consortium to undertake the proposed projects. The committee is expected to submit its report to the Supreme Council of Petroleum and Mineral Affairs headed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd.
The ministerial committee headed by Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal held three meetings after the end of the second stage of negotiations, the source explained to Arab News. These meetings determined the final details of the implementation of the projects, which focus on the development of petroleum and related sectors such as petrochemicals, electricity and water desalination.
The ministerial committee will continue their meetings according to a set schedule. The different phases of talks were determined at the start of the negotiations with international companies last year.
The ideas formed by the committee in the course of a series of negotiations and discussions with the companies and through consultations with related government establishments will be the basis of the final report of the ministerial committee to the council, the sources said. The committee has not finalized the selection of companies to participate in the projects and the final decision on the matter rests with the council, they said, adding that reports on the allocation of the projects to multinational corporations are baseless.
The Saudi government had invited tenders from multinational oil corporations to invest in the integrated projects in the Kingdom. Riyadh announced in May last year that the oil majors had made a series of initial proposals that would inject more than $100 billion into the upstream gas and downstream oil sectors.
The companies that have submitted proposals include Shell, Exxon Mobil, BP Amoco, ENI, Chevron, Philips, Conaco, Total Fina, Elf, Enron and Texaco. The Kingdom expects a total $100 billion investment directly.
The new investment is for developing known reserves as well as for discovering new deposits and exploiting them in addition to setting up support industries.
