Saudi Aramco signs deals worth $90bn with US firms amid Trump Gulf tour

Saudi Aramco said yesterday that it had signed 34 preliminary deals with major US companies, potentially worth up to $90 billion in a push to deepen commercial ties with the United States on the back of President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom, Reuters reported.

The announcement was made a day after Riyadh pledged $600 billion in US investments.

Still, most tie-ups listed by the state oil giant were memorandums of understanding without a value attached. Some deals have also been previously announced, such as the agreement to buy 1.2 million tonnes of LNG per year for a 20-year term from NextDecade

The agreements underscore Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen its energy partnerships and attract foreign investment as it looks to balance oil dominance with broader industrial and technological growth under Vision 2030.

“The US is really a good place to put our investment,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh.

The forum coincided with Trump’s four-day tour of the Gulf, marked by lavish receptions and a series of business deals, including $142 billion in arms agreements.

Aramco is the economic backbone of Saudi Arabia, generating a bulk of the kingdom’s revenue through oil exports and funding its ambitious Vision 2030 diversification drive. Its shares have fallen almost nine per cent this year.

The company said the agreements, struck through its Aramco Group Companies, aim to build on its longstanding ties with US companies, enhance shareholder value, and expand collaboration in energy and other strategic sectors.

A memorandum of understanding with tech heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA.O) aims to establish advanced industrial AI infrastructure, including an AI Hub, an engineering and robotics centre and workforce training programmes.

Aramco also signed an MoU with ExxonMobil to evaluate a significant upgrade to their SAMREF refinery, with plans to expand it into an integrated petrochemical complex.

It also inked a non-binding agreement with Amazon Web Services to collaborate on digital transformation and lower-carbon initiatives, while an MoU with Qualcomm focuses on collaboration in enhancing industrial networks and AI capabilities.

“Our US-related activities have evolved over the decades, and now include multidisciplinary R&D, the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, start-up investments, potential collaborations in LNG, and ongoing procurement,” Nasser said in a statement.

Aramco said on Tuesday it would invest $3.4 billion to expand the Motiva refinery in Texas.

Beyond energy, the state oil giant has become a key vehicle for industrial development, digital transformation and foreign investment. It expanded existing relationships with several high-profile US suppliers including SLB, Baker Hughes, GE Vernova and Honeywell.

On the financial services front, it has forged agreements with asset management giants PIMCO, State Street Corporation and Wellington.

It also signed a deal for short-term cash investments through a unified investment fund, named ‘Fund of One’, with financial heavyweights BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and PIMCO.