April 29, 2018 [Tank News International] - Saudi Aramco and Total have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to construct a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
The complex will be integrated downstream of the SATORP refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco (62.5%) and Total (37.5%) in Jubail, in a move designed to fully exploit operational synergies. This 440,000 barrel per day refinery, is recognised as being one of the most efficient in the world.
Located next to the SATORP refinery in the same industrial area, the complex will comprise a world-size mixed-feed steam cracker (50% ethane and refinery off-gas) with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units.
The project will represent an investment of around $5bn. The two partners are planning to start the front-end engineering and design (FEED) in the third quarter of 2018.
The cracker will feed other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants representing an overall amount of $4bn investment by third party investors.
In total, $9bn will be invested and the project will produce more than 2.7 million metric tonnes of high value chemicals.
“Our joint venture SATORP is a remarkably successful model of industry partnership and we are keen to build on this success to further underpin Saudi Aramco’s strategy to expand its capacity in the chemicals sector by 2030,” commented Amin Nasser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Aramco.
“This project illustrates our strategy of maximising the integration of our large refining and petrochemical platforms and of expanding our petrochemical operations from low-cost feedstock, to take advantage of the fast growing Asian polymer market,” commented Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total.
“Furthermore, this project will enable us to strengthen our ties with Saudi Aramco, with whom we successfully operate our biggest and most efficient refinery in the world. Finally, it will contribute to the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom by creating 8,000 jobs and bringing in new high-added-value technologies.”
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