Saudi Arabia Discusses Role of Mining in Social Development

Riyadh hosts Future Minerals Forum on January 11-13. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh hosts Future Minerals Forum on January 11-13. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Discusses Role of Mining in Social Development

Riyadh hosts Future Minerals Forum on January 11-13. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh hosts Future Minerals Forum on January 11-13. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced the first-ever Future Minerals Forum under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The global event will occur from January 11 to 13 at Riyadh's King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.

It discusses the mining sector in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, features presentations on topics critical to the mining industry's future, and reviews an extensive repertoire of subjects, opportunities, and challenges confronting the world's mining industry.

The conference will be attended by over 1,000 decision-makers from more than 100 countries and 150-plus top global investors, and some 100 international speakers.

Saudi ministers and representatives of the regional and international mining industry and allied sectors will join the forum's leaders.

The first day of the conference will start with a Ministerial Mining Roundtable Special Session featuring presentations and discussions on topics critical to the mining industry's future.

The "Mining in a Day" workshop will be held in tandem with other seminars and panel discussions that will spotlight important issues, including the attraction of investments, the role of technology in mining, and the environment, social, and governance issues.

The General Forum will begin on January 12 with a plenary session and a keynote address by Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar al-Khorayef. The session on Reimagining Mining and Maximizing its Contribution to Society will commence the day's program schedule.

It will be followed by a Smart-Mining session, "Showcasing Technology & Innovation—Supporting Mining of the Future."

Two additional sessions – Highlighting Mining's Critical Role in a Low-Carbon Economy and Supporting the Region's Growth and Development and Country Briefings – will complement exhibition and networking opportunities.

The final day will highlight Saudi Arabia's role in a session entitled "Land of Opportunity – A Regional Powerhouse," along with sessions on "Global Investment Opportunities an Accessing Capital."

Deep-dive sessions, keynote fireside chats, and other animated inter-and intra-ministry discussions will follow.

The conference will be attended by Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of Environment Abdulrahman al-Fadley, Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih, and Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund Yassir al-Rumayyan.

It will also be attended by dozens of confirmed speakers from the mining industry, leaders from multilateral global organizations such as the World Bank, International Council on Mining and Metals, and World Gold Council.



Saudi Aramco Does Not Plan to Increase Its Stake in Horse Powertrain 

Aramco's Executive Vice President for products and customers Yasser Mufti poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters, in Milan, Italy August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Aramco's Executive Vice President for products and customers Yasser Mufti poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters, in Milan, Italy August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
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Saudi Aramco Does Not Plan to Increase Its Stake in Horse Powertrain 

Aramco's Executive Vice President for products and customers Yasser Mufti poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters, in Milan, Italy August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Aramco's Executive Vice President for products and customers Yasser Mufti poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters, in Milan, Italy August 31, 2024. (Reuters)

Saudi Aramco does not plan to increase its 10% stake in fuel-based engines joint venture Horse Powertrain while it continues to pursue more deals to expand its downstream presence, a senior executive told Reuters.

Aramco in June agreed to buy a 10% stake in Horse Powertrain, valuing the venture with Renault and Geely at around 7.40 billion euros ($8.2 billion), as part of its growing interest in the automotive industry, including in the development of so called e-fuels.

"The 10% stake hits all of the boxes that we have for our financial and strategic objectives for this company," Yasser Mufti, Aramco's executive vice president for products and customers, said in an interview in Milan, where he was to follow Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monza at the weekend.

"I saw a lot of speculation about that but we were always targeting a 10% stake," he said, in the first public comments by a senior Aramco executive on the company's plans for the Horse Powertrain joint-venture.

Geely and Renault will each own 45% of the venture, which will supply gasoline engines, hybrid systems and gearboxes for internal combustion engine vehicles.

Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, is expected to finalize the stake purchase later this year.

Horse Powertrain aims to become a global supplier for automakers, which can buy "off-the-shelf" engines compatible with advanced fuels, Mufti said. "By 2050, half the (global auto) fleet will still be conventional combustion engines or hybrids".

More M&A deals will come for Aramco, after those it closed in the past 12 months, which include the purchases of Chilean fuel retailer Esmax and of stakes in Gas & Oil Pakistan and US-based MidOcean, its first LNG investment abroad.

"We're very busy in this space," Mufti said.

"The downstream business is where we have M&A opportunities and now LNG (liquefied natural gas) as well. We have targets and markets and we work with these opportunities as they come."

Downstream refers to refining, and sales and marketing of oil and gas products.

Last year, Aramco spent around $9 billion on acquisitions, up from $4.2 billion in 2022, according to LSEG data, and is now discussing more deals, including acquiring stakes in China's Shandong Yulong Petrolchemical and Hengli Petrochemical.

Aramco on Tuesday also announced it was broadening its partnership with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, ahead of the 2026 implementation of new Formula 1 regulations, including requirements for sustainable fuels.

Mufti said Aramco was investing "hundreds of millions" to build two demonstration facilities with partners in Saudi Arabia and Spain, to develop e-fuels, that can be used in internal combustion engine vehicles and help reduce carbon footprint.

Made by synthesizing captured CO2 emissions and hydrogen produced using renewable or CO2-free electricity, e-fuels are not cheap. Their estimated cost is 2 euros per litter if produced at scale, four times the typical wholesale price for petrol made from oil.

The two facilities would be "excellent starting points" to help Aramco understand how to scale up e-fuels production and bring costs down, Mufti said. "I can be 100% confident that the current cost structure will be improved on dramatically".

Costs of making e-fuels could fall to between 0.70-1.33 euros per liter in 2050, according to lobby group eFuel Alliance.