DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s state oil company is working to turn itself into an innovation powerhouse while its much-delayed plans to go public remain on hold. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Aramco, 230 patents last year, four times as many as in 2013 when it racked up just 57. That placed Aramco third among oil-and-gas exploration and production companies that year, far behind Exxon Mobil Corp. but close to Chevron Corp. ...
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, better known as Aramco, was awarded 230 patents 2016 by the US Patent and Trademark Office, up from 57 in 2013. That's still some way short of the more than 400 patents that Exxon Mobil registered in last year and about 360 2016. Chevron filed about 240 2016, Shell about 120, Total just over 100 and Conoco less than 50. Aramco's recent patents relate to fluids to break rocky oil formations using micro-particles, a docking station for mobile robots deployed in oil fields and techniques to remove carbon from fuels.