On the morning of April 24th, Saudi Arabia local time, Chairman Li Chundi of Zhongman Group, along with his delegation, visited the headquarters of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco). They met with the Saudi Aramco’s Executive Vice President Abdulhamid Dughaither and Senior Vice President Khalid Abduljader. Both parties reached a consensus on further deepening cooperation. Zhongman Group Vice President Hu Er’tai and ZPEC Saudi Company General Manager Wang Zhongqiao, also participated in the meeting.

During the talks, Abdulhamid Dughaither emphasized that Saudi Aramco was accelerating its energy industry upgrade strategy. Chinese companies, like Zhongman, play an important role in Saudi Arabia and have provided strong support for Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030”. Based on its global development strategy, Saudi Aramco’s next steps will include prioritizing the introduction of more Chinese high-quality contractors with solid technology and the ability to handle complex well conditions. It will also establish long-term strategic cooperation relationships within the framework of a compliance access mechanism.

Chairman Li Chundi expressed his gratitude to Saudi Aramco for its long-term trust and support for ZPEC. He said that the three ZPEC drilling and workover teams currently operating in Saudi Arabia were progressing smoothly. The company has formed a complete industrial chain including oil and gas exploration and production, oilfield services engineering, and equipment manufacturing through its “Three Integrations” strategy. At present, ZPEC has 56 drilling rigs operating in the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa, accumulating rich experiences in complex well operations. The company’s self-developed, off-line automated drilling rigs have obtained multiple national patents and their safety and high efficiency have been effectively verified in drilling practice. On the basis of currently providing high-quality services, Zhongman hopes to introduce its intelligent drilling rigs to the market to enhance drilling performances.

During the talks, Abdulhamid Dughaither showed great interest in Zhongman’s drilling technology system and intelligent equipment. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on the research and development of digital drilling technology and intelligent equipment. Chairman Li Chundi invited senior leaders of Aramco to visit the headquarters of Zhongman Group and the Lingang Base in Shanghai at an appropriate time to inspect the research and development achievements of independent oilfield equipment.

Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil producer and the sixth-largest oil refiner. Its business covers oil exploration, development, production, refining, transportation, and sales. It owns the world’s largest onshore and offshore oil fields. Zhongman’s team entered the Saudi Aramco market in March 2021 and has since completed drilling and workover tasks on 91 wells. (Hao Donglei, Li Li)