News

HFI is pleased to announce we will be launching the 2025 edition of our Saudi Arabia Ventures Initiative (SAVI) eGuidebook in early December to coincide with the Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPE) event: Drilling Efficiency and Sustainability Through Digital Transformation, on 3-4 December in Al Khobar.

The SAVI eGuidebook provides a roadmap to support HFI clients’ active in the Saudi energy market including acquisitions, local partner ventures, in-Kingdom group structures, technology supply and technical services contracts (TSTSCs) and in-Kingdom manufacturing ventures (IMVs), with advanced energy technology licensing and local manufacturing, procurement, employment and training being a growing policy objective in Saudi Arabia.

The eGuidebook will also provide an update on key strategic initiatives including the King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) and the Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone.

Despite a mixed year on contract announcements, KSA remains one of the most prospective global energy markets in the period to 2030 with US$242 billion of energy projects being tracked by the EIC (Energy Industries Council) Datastream.

The petroleum sector has US$135bn of projects on file, dominated by aramco’s upstream and midstream capex projects and downstream JVs investments.

The power and transmission & distribution sector has US$45bn of projects being tracked, dominated by Saudi Electricity Company.

The energy transition sector is powering ahead with US$62bn of projects, dominated by ACWA Power’s renewables projects, NEOM’s green hydrogen focus and Aramco’s CCUS plans. Nuclear power may also be on the horizon.

In line with its ambitious Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is driving the development of large-scale renewable energy projects with the goal of achieving a 50% share of renewables in its energy mix. This initiative is part of the Kingdom's broader strategy to reach net-zero emissions by 2060. Among its key plans is the construction of one of the world’s largest green hydrogen facilities, set to begin operations by 2025, powered by more than 4 GW of solar and wind energy.

We are privileged to work with our local law network partner Dr Bader AlBusaiyes, FCIArb on Saudi Arabia ventures, and 2024 marks 6 years of our collaboration arrangements and my sincere thanks go out to Bader and his team.  We are closely monitoring the new foreign investment regulations which are due to come into effect in February 2025.

Some dates for early 2025 in Saudi: IKTVA 20025 on 13-16 January in Dhahran; SPE AI Symposium in Dammam on 4–5 February 2025 and EIC/Asharqia Chamber KSA Connect event in Al Khobar on 15 February 2025.  As one of EIC’s Global Ambassadors it is a pleasure to support the EIC team.

We will be delighted to meet up with clients and connections in Saudi during these events.