Welcome to the future of industry

At Aramco, we are proud that three of our facilities have now been accredited as part of this network. The latest addition, Abqaiq, is our largest oil processing facility and the largest crude stabilization plant in the world. It joins Khurais, the world's largest intelligent oil field, and our Uthmaniyah gas plant. And we are still the only major international energy firm represented. This is testament to Aramco's commitment to 4IR technologies and to the scale of our ongoing digital transformation. 

The Abqaiq facility is the beating heart of Aramco, playing a pivotal role in the company's day-to-day operations.

It is the place where 50 percent of Saudi Arabia's daily production of oil is stabilized, as different grades of crude from oil fields across the Kingdom are processed and prepared for transport, export, and downstream processing. The size and age of Abqaiq, which has been in operation for more than 70 years, presented unique challenges during the facility's digital transformation. But by harnessing the power of data, analytics and automation, Abqaiq's manufacturing processes have been transformed, enabling it to innovate and thrive in an increasingly digital world. 

“By harnessing the power of data, analytics and automation, Abqaiq's manufacturing processes have been transformed”

Aramco is already reaping the benefits: energy use per barrel of oil processed has been cut by 14.5 percent, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 3.8 percent and we have seen a 20 percent reduction in unplanned maintenance.

“We have seen a 20 percent reduction in unplanned maintenance and a 3.8 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions”

How were these results achieved? The digital transformation has affected almost every aspect of Abqaiq's operations, but three changes stand out.

First, the use of robots and smart drones equipped with cameras, thermal imagers, and gas detectors has reduced reliance on manual field checks. This has improved efficiency, safety, and decision-making by our operations team. (In fact, robots and drones now perform 30 percent of our routine operations checklist.)

Some people might wrongly assume that the adoption of 4IR technologies poses a threat to jobs. At Aramco, we see it as an enormous opportunity, freeing our employees from mundane or dangerous tasks, and allowing them to extend their knowledge and build on their existing skills. For instance, our safety inspectors can now retrain as drone pilots and programmers, so they can program new routes, pilot drones when required, and leverage their years of experience to spot potential faults from the data that has been collected in a safer and more efficient way.

“Our safety inspectors can now retrain as drone pilots and programmers [and] leverage their years of experience to spot potential faults”

To successfully implement a digital transformation of this scale requires wide-ranging commitment to education and training. Aramco has achieved this through a number of initiatives, including in-house training to give staff the knowledge and skills to fully exploit 4IR technologies, and skills development through external courses at world-class institutions (including sponsoring Master's degrees with a specific focus on 4IR).