Saudi Aramco has signed two agreements with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) for allocating plots for setting up two industrial units at its giant Ras al-Khair maritime complex.

State energy giant Aramco plans to set up a manufacturing facility for onshore drilling rigs and related equipment on an area spanning 500,000 square metres. The second plot will be used to develop a casting and forging facility over an area of 300,000 sqaure metres. The new casting and forging facility will serve the maritime industry and the manufacturing of equipment related to the oil and gas supply chain.

Aramco’s initiative to develop the Ras al-Khair industrial facility is in line with broader plans to localise and drive value from its supply chain, as outlined in the In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) programme. The latest in a series of investments by Aramco at Ras al-Khair is aligned to Aramco’s target to achieve a localisation target of 70 per cent by 2021.

MEED reported earlier this month that Saudi Aramco plans to significantly increase its spending to $414bn over the next decade, with large chunks of the estimated budget to be allotted for infrastructure and drilling.