Russian oilfield services company Novomet has signed the first contract with Saudi Aramco on oil and gas equipment supply and a second deal is under discussion, the chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said on Wednesday, according to TASS.
“[Saudi] Aramco has already concluded the first contract on equipment procurement from Novomet. The second contract is discussed in Aramco, which can be five times above the first one,” Dmitriev said.
RDIF and Saudi Arabia’s representatives are currently also discussing investment projects in Russia, including more than five petrochemical ones, “which can be of interest in terms of the partnership for SABIC and Saudi Aramco,” he added.
It was reported earlier that Perm-based Novomet, which produces oil and gas equipment, will become Russia’s first equipment vendor for Saudi Aramco after obtaining an appropriate accreditation.
In October, a consortium of investors including RDIF, Saudi Aramco and the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed a deal to acquire 31 percent of Novomet.
The company’s CEO Maksim Perelman said the negotiations leading up to the signing were complex.
“We’ve been trying for 10 years to break into Saudi Arabia, and finally we’ve done it,” he told Arab News at the time.