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Ford Duratec automobile engine blocks move along the production line on the opening day of the new Ford Sollers engine manufacturing plant in Elabuga, Russia, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. The plant will produce three versions of Duratec engines, which will be used in Ford cars, produced in Russia, the company said in e-mailed statement.Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

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By Wael Mahdi

January 25, 2018 at 7:29 AM UTC

Updated on

January 25, 2018 at 10:04 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

While Saudi Arabia tries to wean its economy off crude, the nation’s flagship company is devising new ways to make money from the fuel.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is investing in developing more efficient gasoline-powered engines and testing new methods of turning a barrel of crude directly into petrochemicals. The goal: To prolong the global demand for petroleum for decades to come by making engines and chemicals more cost-effective, even as electric vehicles and alternative sources of energy nibble away at crude’s market share.