About

As the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, fully integrated global petroleum and chemicals enterprise Saudi Aramco has a nation’s future resting on its actions. A recent decision to transform Saudi Aramco from an oil and gas company to an energy and chemicals enterprise as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy is one that has called on all parts of the business to work at the highest level. General counsel and company secretary Nabeel Al Mansour and his legal team are working on a number significant deals to help implement this vision and played a significant role in structuring the agreement signed between Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to conduct a feasibility study on the development of a fully integrated crude oil-to-chemicals complex to be located in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, as part of the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program, aims to maximise value from the Kingdom’s crude oil production via vertical and horizontal integration across the hydrocarbon chain. While oil is the main economic asset Saudi Arabia currently possesses, the government is hoping to develop local talent into a second asset so it can continue to prosper in the coming decades. The legal team has been a prominent supporter of this development programme and has made impressive efforts to recruit and train national lawyers. The team also participated in the National Power Academy (NPA), the first of its kind in the region to offer innovative and up-to-date training programs for emerging sectors such as smart grid, energy efficiency and renewables. With Saudi Aramco currently planning to sell a 5% stake in the company, the team will be involved in one of the most high profile deals in the region this year.