Few hours separate Saudi Arabia from the official launch of the most prominent projects in energy sector in the country, on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The projects expected to enhance the capabilities of the Kingdom on the diversification of energy sources in one hand and to provide supplies to global markets on the other hand are the, Yanbu’ Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) and King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.

Today Saudi Arabia has become one of the world’s most dynamic countries in the economic sector, in the time when positive steps towards maintaining its growing economy stands out despite the drop in oil prices. The Kingdom is seriously seeking to diversify non-oil revenues along with moving towards innovation and diversification of energy sources.

With the help of its youth and its national capacity, Saudi Arabia today has become a milestone in terms of youth rehabilitation and training to work in the energy sector. YASREF has provided about 1,200 direct jobs and five thousand indirect jobs with up to 74 per cent “Saudization” in employment at the refinery.

YASREF operates a world-class refining complex that produces premium fuels and products for both international and domestic markets. The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery started trial runs and had originally planned its first exports by November. It successfully loaded its first 300,000 barrels of diesel from the refinery scoring a record since the establishment of the joint project in January 2012.

The second prominent project, King Abdullah Center for Petroleum Studies and Research in Riyadh, is considered as a global research center concerned in research of oil, energy, environment, and their future policies aiming to be an edifice for the exchange of experiences and ideas related to energy, environment and the provision of meaningful strategies and policies for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world; emanating from the Kingdom’s leading role in the field of energy and oil.

The center, which is under preparations to open soon is an independent research non-profit institution, dedicated to study all types of energy, and its mission

concentrates on creating added values that contribute to the benefit of the society and humanity by carrying out independent and transparent research with international standards; thus, enhancing the understanding of future current opportunities for the energy industry, its economies and challenges facing the world in this regard and taking the social benefit as a basis in all aspects of its research activities.