The world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, wants to become a major liquefied natural gas player, the head of its natural gas business said.

Saudi Aramco has taken the first steps to reach a goal of becoming a major LNG player, said Abdulkarim Al-Ghamdi, an Aramco executive vice president, at the GasTech energy conference in Houston.

The Saudi oil giant last year acquired from EIG Global Energy Partners LLC a minority stake in MidOcean Energy for $500 million, its first foray into LNG abroad. This month, it increased its stake to 49%.

In June, Aramco and NextDecade NEXT.O struck a non-binding agreement for a 20-year liquefied natural gas offtake from NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville, Texas.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sabrina Valle)