عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Aramco, KAUST to Form Consortium for Nonmetallics and Composites in Energy Applications

Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. (Reuters)
Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Aramco, KAUST to Form Consortium for Nonmetallics and Composites in Energy Applications

Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. (Reuters)
Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. (Reuters)

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has signed an agreement with Aramco to establish a technology consortium focusing on performance and integrity management of nonmetallics and composites in energy applications (ENERCOMP), said KAUST in a statement.

Aramco has joined ENERCOMP as a founding member and first research sponsor to further advance nonmetallic materials in the energy sector.

"The five-year technology consortium represents a significant university-based R&D investment in nonmetallics and composites in the Kingdom, setting an example of bringing a new technology value chain together to strengthen the Kingdom’s position in the energy and materials transitions," said the statement.

The joint investment aims to support the Kingdom’s vision toward sustainability and diversification through the development of less energy-intensive and lower carbon-footprint materials.

Aramco will leverage its experience from relevant initiatives such as the Rice University Carbon Hub in the US and the Nonmetallic Innovation Center (NIC) in the UK to support ENERCOMP in transforming fundamental science into deployable integrity management solutions. This will increase industry confidence in the long-term role that nonmetallics and composites can play as an integral part of the materials transition.

Similar to the NIC model, the initiative will encourage other energy sector players to join the consortium and utilize KAUST’s cutting-edge research capabilities in engineering solutions, AI and material science.

Aramco Senior Vice President of Technology Oversight and Coordination Dr. Ali Al-Meshari said: "Through this collaboration, we aim to create an innovation hub for advanced composites in the Kingdom. By focusing on the development and integration of smart and cost-effective sensors in composite materials and applying emerging AI solutions, we can deploy novel integrity management technologies to the energy industry at large."

Director of ENERCOMP and KAUST Professor of Mechanical Engineering Prof. Gilles Lubineau highlighted the significance of this step, saying that ENERCOMP represents a new era of collaboration between KAUST and energy sector leaders.

The ambitious industry-focused partnership aims to establish a specialized team at KAUST to support engineering applications of nonmetallics and composites throughout the energy value chain. By supporting the Kingdom's nonmetallic and composite agenda, ENERCOMP will deliver innovative solutions crucial for a sustainable future, he added.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
TT
TT

US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.