Saudi Arabia may increase its investments in the US oil and gas industry, its oil minister Khalid al-Falih said.
"We have billions of dollars invested in refining and distribution in the US, and we may be increasing this on the back of pro-industry, pro-oil and gas policies of the Trump administration", al-Falih told the BBC.
State-owned Saudi Aramco has held a presence in the US since 1988, through its Motiva joint venture with Shell. Under a plan to dissolve Motiva, Aramco will assume sole control over the US' largest refinery, the 600,000 b/d complex at Port Arthur, Texas, and will keep 26 distribution terminals.
Al-Falih said there are "huge areas of alignment" between US and Saudi Arabian interests, and dismissed the prospect of Opec crude being shut out of the US market despite President Donald Trump's preferred "America First" policies that include a stated aim of "achieving energy independence from the Opec cartel and any nations hostile to our interests".
"I believe the Trump administration will do the right thing for the US. We want to do the right thing for Saudi Arabia," al-Falih said, adding that Saudi Arabia is "not the foe".
"I think people are recognising that Opec is a force for good," he said, adding there will be a "healthy dialogue" with US energy secretary Rick Perry.
"We have no problem with the growth in American indigenous oil supplies — as long as they grow in line with global energy demand, we welcome them," al-Falih said.
