Dammam, Rabi'I 15, 1438, Dec 14, 2016, SPA -- Saudi Aramco signed two landmark agreements with Nabors Industries Ltd.(“Nabors”) and Rowan Companies plc (“Rowan”), to create two new national champions focused on onshore and offshore drilling. The new joint ventures mark a major milestone towards the development of a competitive Saudi energy sector, as encapsulated in the company’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) program and Saudi Vision 2030. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Amin H. Nasser, Saudi Aramco President and CEO said: “We look forward to successful partnerships with Nabors and Rowan to drive a best-in-class drilling industry, provide opportunities to manage drilling costs through increased collaboration, drive localization of the energy value chain, and enhance in-Kingdom technical capabilities.” “These initiatives represent an unprecedented new large scale model of collaboration, with substantial value creation for both Saudi Aramco and its partners through a closer working relationship. These investments are part of a wider program to leverage our core activities, to help enable the sustainable development of the Kingdom’s economy through diversification, and the development of an internationally competitive and dynamic local energy sector, supported by national champions.” The joint ventures with Nabors and Rowan were announced as part of Saudi Aramco’s iktva Forum 2016, which marks its one year anniversary. In December 2015, Saudi Aramco launched iktva, a major localization initiative designed to drive domestic value creation and maximize long-term economic growth, diversification, job creation and workforce development, to support a rapidly changing Saudi economy. Iktva aims to achieve 70% localization of all spending on goods and services, and to enable 30% export of Saudi energy sector products by 2021. --More 21:55 LOCAL TIME 18:55 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w290810