Aramco and Dow Chemical move ahead with $15bn project

12 September 2010

Petrochemicals complex in Jubail is on schedule despite move from Ras Tanura

Saudi Aramco and the US’s Dow Chemical Company have said that their $15bn-plus petrochemicals joint venture is moving ahead.

The plant will be centred around an ethylene facility that will be capable of producing 1.3 million tonnes-a-year (t/y) of ethylene and 400,000-t/y of propylene.

MEED reported in March that the partners were considering a site change for the complex and in April confirmed the move to Jubail Industrial City 2 in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province as part of changes to $30bn of downstream projects in the kingdom. The biggest impact of the decision was the cancellation of Aramco’s plans for an $8bn expansion of the existing Ras Tanura refinery.

The move was part of a wider review of the project, covering scope and construction costs. To date, design and planning costs have topped $700m.

Aramco and Dow did not issue a statement saying that construction work will start on the project in 2012, as reported by MEED on 12 September.

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