Oracle announced a planned US$1.5 billion investment in Saudi Arabia on February 6, 2023, to expand cloud capacity. The plan included expanding its existing Jeddah region and opening a new public cloud region in Riyadh. Oracle announced Riyadh’s opening in August 2024, with Saudi data-center company center3 as host partner. The US$1.5 billion figure is an announced plan, not a confirmed total of money spent.
What Oracle announced in 2023
Oracle senior vice president Nick Redshaw told Arab News on February 6, 2023, that the investment was intended to meet growing demand for cloud computing in the Kingdom. The announced scope extended beyond Riyadh:
- Jeddah: Expand capacity in Oracle’s existing Saudi public cloud region, which launched in 2020, according to Oracle’s current regional page.
- Riyadh: Open a new public cloud region, giving customers another in-country location for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
- Further regional planning: Work with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Communications and Information Technology Commission on a commercial and operating model for another region aligned with government requirements and local data-residency rules. The 2023 interview described NEOM as planned, not operational.
Oracle’s 2023 announcement described a planned US$1.5 billion investment; its 2024 opening announcement continued to describe Riyadh as part of that investment. Neither cited announcement verifies that the full amount had been spent.
Riyadh opened in 2024
On August 6, 2024, Oracle announced that its Riyadh public cloud region was open. Oracle identified center3, a subsidiary of stc Group, as the host partner. The region became Oracle’s second public cloud region in Saudi Arabia, after Jeddah. In August 2023, center3 had announced its collaboration with Oracle to provide hosting and data services for Riyadh and support Jeddah’s expansion.
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Oracle says its Riyadh region supports local data-residency requirements and offers more than 100 cloud services, private connectivity, and disaster-recovery capabilities. These are descriptions from Oracle, not independent assessments of service performance or a comparison with other cloud providers.
How the US$14 billion statement relates
On May 13, 2025, Oracle said it would invest US$14 billion over the next 10 years in Saudi Arabia. The cited release does not explain whether that later commitment includes, replaces, or is additional to the US$1.5 billion plan announced in 2023. The two figures should therefore be treated as separate dated statements, not added together or presented as a revised total.
| Statement | What it says | What is established |
|---|---|---|
| February 6, 2023 | US$1.5 billion planned investment in Saudi cloud infrastructure | Included Jeddah expansion and a new Riyadh public cloud region; it is not a verified spending tally. |
| May 13, 2025 | US$14 billion investment over 10 years in the Kingdom | The release does not state how this relates to the 2023 commitment. |
What the announcement means for cloud customers
For organizations considering OCI, a Riyadh region provides another Saudi location to assess for workloads with in-country hosting needs. The existence of two named regions—Jeddah and Riyadh—may also matter when planning deployments across locations, but the announcements do not establish a customer’s actual availability, latency, or disaster-recovery outcome. Those depend on the specific services, architecture, connectivity, and contractual terms.
Before choosing a cloud region or designing a multi-region deployment, organizations should check:
Quick Recap
- Residency and compliance: Whether the relevant service, data type, and deployment meet the organization’s legal and regulatory obligations. Oracle describes regional support for local data-residency requirements; customers should confirm exact requirements for their use case.
- Deployment model: Whether public cloud, dedicated infrastructure, or a hybrid arrangement fits the workload and operating model.
- Resilience design: Which regions and services are available for the required backup, recovery, and continuity objectives. A provider’s disaster-recovery capability does not by itself configure or guarantee a customer’s recovery plan.
- Service and connectivity needs: Confirm that required OCI services and private connectivity options are available and suitable in the intended region.
Sources and timeline
- Arab News, February 6, 2023 — Nick Redshaw interview on the planned US$1.5 billion investment, Jeddah expansion, Riyadh region, and further regional planning.
- center3, August 9, 2023 — Hosting and data-services collaboration for Riyadh and support for Jeddah expansion.
- Oracle, August 6, 2024 — Riyadh region opening and center3 host-partner identification.
- Oracle, May 13, 2025 — US$14 billion investment statement over 10 years.
- Oracle Saudi Arabia, Riyadh cloud-region page — Current company description of the regional offering.
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