Saudi Aramco announced that an international investor consortium, led by affiliates of BlackRock and Hassana, acquired a 49 percent stake in Aramco Gas Pipelines Company, a subsidiary of Aramco, for $15.5 billion.
The consortium comprises leading institutional investors, including, amongst others, Keppel Infrastructure Trust, Silk Road Fund, and China Merchants Capital.
As part of the transaction, first announced in December 2021, Aramco Gas Pipelines Company and Aramco entered into a 20-year lease and leaseback arrangement with Aramco's gas pipeline network.
Under the arrangement, Aramco Gas Pipelines Company will receive a tariff payable by Aramco for the specified gas products that flow through the network, backed by minimum commitments on throughput.
The long-term investment by the consortium represents further progress in Aramco's portfolio optimization program and highlights the robust investment opportunities presented by Aramco's significant infrastructure assets.
It also underlines Aramco's long-term solid outlook and the appeal of Saudi Arabia to leading institutional investors.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Aramco Board Yasir al-Rumayyan described the International Petroleum Technologies Conference (IPTC), held recently in Riyadh, as an opportunity to boost cooperation and find solutions for the long-term global energy challenges.
The official explained that Aramco could contribute to the global energy sector through its robust platform, which prompted the company to adopt the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
It helps raise its efficiency level and minimize emissions from the company's business.
Rumayyan noted that Aramco innovates and explores effective carbon management solutions to reduce its environmental impact and carbon emissions.
Aramco's carbon emissions levels are at their lowest, and the company proved its financial flexibility and operational reliability while taking actions to maintain the health and safety of its employees.
Rumayyan added that Aramco is working to draw a more sustainable future by developing technologies that reduce emissions of hydrocarbon energy sources, mainly if applied on a global scale.
He pointed out that Aramco focuses its efforts on enabling communities and individuals, ensuring the sustainability of the business, and developing a commercial system.
The company launched several energy sector initiatives, IKTVA and Namaat, which are an integral part of its long-term vision to develop an energy sector capable of competing globally.
For his part, Aramco President & CEO, Amin H. Nasser Amin Nasser highlighted at a plenary session on the sidelines of the conference entitled "Enhancing Global Recovery through Sustainable Energy" the risks associated with the lack of investments in oil and gas.
He warned that high energy prices in Europe and parts of Asia affect customers worldwide, and it is mainly due to investment strategies and policies of specific sectors, while energy investment has been halted.
Investment is now focused on renewable energy and alternatives without perceiving the need to support all long-term sources and ensure supplies to maintain global growth, according to Nasser.
