Saudi Aramco president and chief executive officer Abdallah S. Jum'ah has affirmed that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. is one of mutually beneficial interdependence. Jumah made these remarks on Monday at Rice University's James Baker III Institute for Public Policy in Houston in a lecture entitled "Saudi Arabia and the United States: Partners in Prosperity - the Energy Dimension." He was the first speaker of the Baker Institute Energy Forum Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series. "I am proud to say that Saudi Aramco has been at the center of this relationship, ever since the day in 1933 when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California - predecessor to Chevron - signed a concession agreement which paved the way for the discovery of oil in the Kingdom," he added. This relationship extends beyond oil into multi-dimensional areas of cooperation, Jum'ah noted. The presence of U.S. companies and professionals in Saudi Arabia is as pervasive as it is welcome, he said, and is set to grow in the years ahead as a wide range of profitable investment opportunities open up in the country over the next 20 years. Jum'ah said an important dimension of the close relationship is higher education. "At Saudi Aramco alone, we have over 3,500 Saudi employees who hold at least one degree from an American university," he said, "and many have been awarded both bachelor's and postgraduate diplomas from American colleges." --MORE 1132 Local Time 0832 GMT
