OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. The first Saudi Aramco Downstream Technology Quest was held recently in Paris. Potential partners gathered at the invitation-only event to discuss downstream technologies that address key challenges in implementing Saudi Aramco’s strategy to expand its existing fuel technology and petrochemical research capabilities, reported the press-centre of Saudi Aramco.

Hosted by Aramco Overseas Company (AOC) B.V. on behalf of Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center, the two-day symposium focused on exploring solutions and establishing future partnerships with companies and institutions that can offer viable and innovative solutions to technological challenges Saudi Aramco faces in the downstream domain.

Seven challenges within two research domains were pre-communicated on the TechQuest website to potential partners such as petrochemical companies, car engine and fuel designers, universities, research institutes and small to medium enterprises allowing them to develop and submit proposals for future collaborations.

Seventeen distinguished members of academia and technology providers from Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region were invited to attend the event.

Nabil Aldabal, managing director of AOC, welcomed the guests and opened the event. "I am particularly proud to be speaking to you today as we are, for the first time, holding a Downstream TechQuest, which is essentially a forum to discuss and encourage innovative technology contributions, in addition to fostering long-term, fruitful partnerships for Saudi Aramco."

Ashraf Al-Ghazzawi, acting manager for the Research and Development Center of Saudi Aramco, said: "The R&D Center’s vision is to become a leading global center for oil and gas research and technology. The center conducts pioneering research and introduces new technology to create value for the company. In doing so, we continue searching for new ways to address industry challenges. Events like TechQuest help us gather subject matter expertise from all around the world to collaborate and find innovative solutions to some of these challenges."

Over the two-day symposium, delegates were given 90 minutes for their one-on-one meeting to present their solutions according to the respective challenges and discuss research proposals with Saudi Aramco R&D members, providing them an opportunity to discuss their ideas for collaboration in detail.

"Overall, the event was successful in enabling Saudi Aramco to identify some promising innovative approaches that may help accelerate the advancement of our select downstream technologies," said Ibrahim Abba, chief technologist of Chemicals Research at Saudi Aramco.
This year’s event was Saudi Aramco’s second European Technology Quest, with the first one focused on Upstream Technology and held in Aberdeen, Scotland. Saudi Aramco has previously had two upstream TechQuest events, both of which were hosted in Houston, Texas, by Aramco Services Co.

For additional information, visit www.techquest2012.com/.