Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of the Eastern Region, on Saturday patronised the inaugural ceremony of the First Saudi Gas Forum.
The three-day Forum was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Eastern Region in cooperation with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Saudi Aramco.
Prince Mohammed bin Fahd was welcomed by Eng. Ali Al-Naimi, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and a number of senior officials.
Speaking on the occasion, Abdulrahman Al-Rashid, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Eastern Region, said that investment in the gas sector is part of measures implemented by the Saudi Government to ensure growth and development of the Saudi economy.
For his part, Ali Al-Naimi said that the Saudi Government launched a huge program in 1975 to promote the Kingdom’s industrial development. The program aimed to guarantee optimum utilization of natural gas and its liquefied products. Al-Naimi pointed out that the Kingdom’s gas production has reached seven billion cubic feet per day.
Citing the importance of investment in the gas sector, Al-Naimi said that development of the sector would create more job opportunities for citizens, would promote diversification of the Saudi industrial base and boost the role of the private sector in the process of economic development.
Al-Naimi said that the gas agreements recently signed by the Saudi Government and a number of international companies would make it possible to increase use of gas reserves and boost production to meet the requirements of the development process and diversify the sources of income in the Kingdom.
Prince Mohammed bin Fahd expressed his hope that the Kingdom would be capable of playing a leading role in the international gas industry. He reiterated the keenness of the Saudi officials to extend all possible facilities and incentives to investors. He highlighted the unique experience of the Saudi private sector in the field of natural gas, and said that significant development had been underway in cooperation with Saudi Aramco.
Prince Mohammed bin Fahd condemned the subversive acts perpetrated by small groups of deviant extremists in the Kingdom, and said that these subversive acts run absolutely counter to the teachings of Islam.
The function was attended by a number of princes, senior officials and businessmen.
Source: SPA
