By Manya Saini DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi Aramco unveiled 34 preliminary deals with major U.S. companies on Wednesday, potentially worth up to $90 billion in one of its broadest pushes to deepen commercial ties with the United States. The agreements underscore Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen its energy partnerships and attract foreign investment as it looks […]
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Aramco signs up to $90 billion in US deals as Trump Gulf tour spurs flurry of tie-ups
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By Manya Saini
DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi Aramco unveiled 34 preliminary deals with major U.S. companies on Wednesday, potentially worth up to $90 billion in one of its broadest pushes to deepen commercial ties with the United States.
The agreements underscore Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen its energy partnerships and attract foreign investment as it looks to balance oil dominance with broader industrial and technological growth under Vision 2030.
“The U.S. is really a good place to put our investment,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh. He was announcing deals with U.S. liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade and utility company Sempra.
The event coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump’s four-day tour of the Gulf, marked by lavish receptions and a series of business deals, including Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion pledge to invest in the United States and $142 billion in arms agreements.
The $90 billion worth of agreements represent one of Aramco’s largest single-day announcements with U.S. firms, reflecting the scale of the kingdom’s push to deepen strategic economic ties with Washington across energy, technology, and finance.
Aramco is the economic backbone of Saudi Arabia, generating the bulk of the kingdom’s revenue through oil exports and funding its ambitious Vision 2030 diversification drive.
FLURRY OF DEALS
The company said the agreements, struck through its Aramco Group Companies, aim to build on its longstanding ties with U.S. companies, enhance shareholder value, and expand collaboration in energy and other strategic sectors.
A Memorandum of Understanding with tech heavyweight Nvidia aims to establish advanced industrial AI infrastructure, including an AI Hub, an engineering and robotics centre, and workforce training programmes.
Aramco also signed an MoU with ExxonMobil to evaluate a significant upgrade to their SAMREF refinery, with plans to expand it into an integrated petrochemical complex.
Meanwhile, it inked a non-binding agreement with Amazon Web Services to collaborate on digital transformation and lower-carbon initiatives, while a MoU with Qualcomm focuses on collaboration in enhancing industrial networks and AI capabilities.
“Our U.S.-related activities have evolved over the decades, and now include multi-disciplinary R&D, the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, start-up investments, potential collaborations in LNG, and ongoing procurement,” Nasser said in a statement.
Aramco said on Tuesday it would invest $3.4 billion to expand the Motiva refinery in Texas.
Beyond energy, the state oil giant has become a key vehicle for industrial development, digital transformation, and foreign investment.
It expanded existing relationships with several high-profile U.S. suppliers including SLB, Baker Hughes, GE Vernova and Honeywell.
On the financial services front, it has forged agreements with asset management giants PIMCO, State Street Corporation and Wellington.
It also signed a deal for short-term cash investments through a unified investment fund, named ‘Fund of One’, with financial heavyweights BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and PIMCO.
(Reporting by Manya Saini; Editing by Richard Chang, Kirsten Donovan)