The 25th WPC Energy Congress hosted a keynote panel titled “Partnering for Success: Challenges and Opportunities”, focusing on the Kingdom's role in shaping the future of the global energy industry and on a transformation built on modern technology, operational integration and national talent and resources. Speakers were Acwa Chairman Mohammad Abunayyan, SABIC's chief executive, and Saudi Aramco Executive Vice President of Gas Abdulkarim Al-Ghamdi.

Abunayyan credited the Ministry of Energy's ecosystem and sustained government backing with boosting the company's competitiveness at home and abroad. He said renewable power in the Kingdom is now produced at costs that compare very well internationally, using advanced technologies such as round-the-clock solar operations. Young Saudi talent is the main engine of renewable projects, he added, noting that local content and expertise in new projects have reached about 90%, and that the company remains committed to expanding in major global markets such as China.

SABIC's chief executive spoke about the challenges facing petrochemicals worldwide amid economic-cycle swings and repeated capacity additions. Meeting them, he said, requires evolving partnership models, adopting low-carbon technologies such as carbon-neutral and sustainable manufacturing solutions, and closer integration with national champions including Acwa and Saudi Aramco.

Al-Ghamdi outlined Aramco's strategies for growing the gas sector, the backbone of domestic energy supply and of the petrochemical and manufacturing industries. Between 2025 and 2027, he said, some six to seven gas processing plants and facilities were built and brought on stream, the largest expansion in the history of Aramco and the region. The aim is to lift gas sales by up to 80% by 2030 compared with 2021 levels.

He added that resource localisation under the IKTVA programme ranges from more than 75% to 90%, protecting operations against external disruption, and said national talent and technological integration are the twin pillars of the gas sector's sustained growth.