Aramco Research and Development Center (Aramco R&D Center)

Aramco Research and Development Center (Aramco R&D Center), affiliated with Saudi Aramco, was established in 1994 and is located in Dhahran, Eastern Province, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The center is dedicated to scientific research for continuous innovation and development of solutions for challenges faced by oil refineries in the crude oil industry, its derivatives, refining, and conversion to fuel.

The center employs numerous scientists, researchers, and assistants dedicated to searching for new technologies to enhance oil and gas resources, contributing to conserving hydrocarbon resources and developing the industry. The center also aims to localize technology by creating Saudi talents capable of research, problem-solving, and addressing technical challenges.

The research and studies conducted at the center support various operations such as exploration, drilling, oil extraction, expansion in well construction, oil transportation, separation, and sediment isolation. This includes refining, transportation, operation, marketing, and other vital and supporting operations conducted by Saudi Aramco around the clock.

The center aims to achieve four long-term objectives: preserving oil used in transportation means, increasing oil usage as feedstock in chemical industries, encouraging the use of oil in power generation applications, and finding new oil markets. To achieve these objectives, the center conducts research to improve oil extraction and reservoir evaluation, develop future clean fuel formulations, and discover new uses for oil.

The center houses 128 laboratory units conducting research in various fields, including environmental studies on groundwater and seawater issues, marine life, and soil. The research also studies local plants capable of absorbing hydrocarbon materials and metals left by oil. The Research team has discovered three types of local plants that serve this environmental function.

The oil and derivatives evaluation unit conducts several studies, including finding a technology to remove sulfur from diesel and gasoline without using hydrogen whose capacity to reduce sulfur levels is limited due to the presence of sulfur compounds resistant to this treatment, especially given the need for low-sulfur clean fuel.

In 2004, the center witnessed expansion to align with Saudi Aramco’s future technological needs and maintain the company's leadership in the hydrocarbon industry, using innovative applied research to develop technologies and operational procedures, elevating the level of research and contributing to the center's scientists obtaining multiple patents.

Scientists at the center work in various fields to grow the hydrocarbon industry, protect future crude oil markets, and find new applications and solutions to multiple questions, such as: how can petroleum fuel be burned more efficiently and cleanly? How can light products be obtained from heavy crude oil? What are the best methods to combat corrosion? How can larger quantities of oil and gas be extracted from reservoirs?

The center's scientists develop laboratory solutions, adapt conversion technologies, and provide advanced technical services in petrophysics, phase behavior of hydrocarbons, fluids for drilling oil and gas wells, geochemistry, oil and gas production activation and simulation, and other fields. Researchers also study hydrocarbon reservoir behavior, conduct geochemical evaluations of rocks, and explore ways to increase well production. Their research includes developing packaging materials, drilling fluid polymers, and non-metallic and composite materials to be used in work areas.