Saudi Aramco Upstream Technology Company (SAUTC), a Saudi Aramco company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) to promote cooperation in the area of joint research, primarily to explore oil and gas industry innovation with specific focus on upstream technology. Under the MOU, Saudi Aramco and MSU will conduct programs and projects to include developing new advanced materials applied in the oil and gas industry as well as methods and techniques for reservoir and oilfield data acquisition, analysis and computational modeling. The collaboration will also entail both parties organizing bilateral joint laboratories, symposia, workshops and conferences. “Saudi Aramco welcomes this collaboration with Moscow State University, an institution that is distinguished both by its venerable history and its academic prestige, notably in advanced upstream disciplines,” said Mohammed al-Qahtani, Aramco’s senior vice president of Upstream. “In this era of accelerating technology and innovation, strategic collaboration between industry and academia is vital for impactful solutions to society’s most pressing priorities and challenges,” he added. As for Andrey Fedyanin, vice-rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, he said the university “has vast experience of fundamental research in the areas of geophysics and geochemistry, digital modeling and big data analytics, and collaboration with Saudi Aramco will assist in turning theoretical ideas into practical developments and innovations.” “MSU welcomes the achievement of the milestone in partnership with Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest integrated oil and gas company. We believe that the signing of the MoU will give a new impulse for our cooperation,” he added.