The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has signed an agreement with Russian company Geotech to extract any remaining material from existing oil wells in the Kingdom. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Jeddah Economic Forum, in the presence of Mazen Batarjee, Deputy Chairman of the JCCI, Sergei Koznitsov, the Russian Consul General in Jeddah and Geotech's vice president Vlasov Alex. However, the agreement requires the approval from Saudi Aramco first before any work can be started on any oil wells. The agreement stipulates that JCCI is the official agent for this company in the Gulf. Batarjee pointed out that Saudi Aramco has agreed in principle to the idea. Work will only begin once all criteria have been satisfied including verifying the work carried out by the company in other countries. Batarjee added that there are many wells that have stopped operations and will need to have water pumped into it as part of the process to extract any remaining oil. He said the Russian company has the technology to extract 50 percent of the oil at a low cost and they have already successfully carried out work in this regard. Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of Gulf countries that have signed agreements of this kind. Gulf companies are also expected to sign agreements with this company if approval is given by Saudi Aramco. The Russian Consul General welcomed the Kingdom's cooperation with Russia in various economic sectors. He said this agreement was an example of the continued cooperation between the two countries over the years. Koznitsov said a number of agreements would be signed at a ministerial level in building, construction, technology, and solar energy. He said businesspeople should take advantage of the boom in the economies of the two nations to establish further partnerships and agreements. Russia will also present to the Kingdom new studies on the technology to be used for oil extraction.
