Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Arabian Oil Co, known internationally as Saudi Aramco, on Tuesday has signed an agreement with Total to establish a complex for manufacturing industries.

The French oil major firm is currently having $5 billion investments with the Saudi state-run oil giant and aims to raise their mutual cooperation in the coming period, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) which began earlier today in Riyadh.

Total also aims to increase investment in oil, gas, and electricity sectors in the oil-rich Kingdom, Pouyanne added.

“We see what partnership means when you have difficult times. This is when you really strengthen a partnership,” the CEO further indicated.

Earlier on Tuesday, Aramco inked 15 deals with a total value of $34 billion during the first day of the FII conference with the US-based Schlumberger, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Air Products, Acwa Power, and Sumitomo.

Other contracts were signed with Flexsteel, Halliburton, NPCC, and Baker Hughes.

The FII conference, dubbed “Davos in the Desert”, started in Riyadh earlier on Tuesday and would continue until Thursday, 25 October.