Arlanxeo expands R&D network

Arlanxeo announced that the next phase of its growth plans to expand its R&D efforts into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by entering into a collaboration framework with Dhahran Techno Valley Company (DTVC), a company wholly owned by KFUPM, the Kingdom’s foremost academic institution for oil and gas.  

 

Both parties formalized their intention to collaborate through a letter of intent. Pursuant to the letter, the two parties will seek to work together to develop products and applications relevant for Arlanxeo's elastomers businesses. Such collaboration will be centered in a technical R&D center to be established by Arlanxeo in Dhahran Techno Valley, Saudi Arabia.  

 

 

Donald Chen, CEO of Arlanxeo said that he company will seek to leverage the technical know-how and core competencies of DTVC and KFUPM to support its efforts in building an innovative elastomers industry in Saudi Arabia. The collaboration is a natural fit for Arlanxeo as a member of the Saudi Aramco family, according to Mr. Chen. KFUPM as an academic institution has deep ties to Saudi Aramco in terms of R&D partnership, while DTVC has a long-standing reputation for pursuing innovative excellence and is home to a state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure.

 

Commenting on the collaboration, Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Downstream said that the cooperation would give Arlanxeo the opportunity to capture the expertise of highly qualified research and academic personnel from DTVC and KFUPM, which could be an important contributor to the growth aspirations of Arlanxeo as well as Saudi Aramco’s broader chemicals growth strategy. Furthermore, this collaboration with KFUPM would enable ARLANXEO to accelerate development of growth opportunities integrating the strong feedstock position of its parent, Saudi Aramco.