Kingdom plans to integrate existing and new refineries with downstream industries
Saudi Arabia has given the strongest indication yet that Saudi Aramcos new domestic refinery operations will play a large role in increasing the production of the kingdoms petrochemicals sector.
Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Ali al-Naimi, told delegates at the Saudi Downstream 2014 conference today that the kingdom needed to integrate refineries with downstream operations in order to provide essential raw materials.
We need to take the raw materials and ensure they travel down the value chain, Al-Naimi said. Our high quality refineries can link their products to other industries and we can attract the private sector to convert these products.
MEED reported in September 2013 that Riyadh was planning to integrate its existing domestic refinery operations with downstream petrochemicals sectors.
A number of sites have been identified including existing refineries such as PetroRabigh and the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (Satorp) refinery in Jubail. Other sites at Ras Tanura, Jizan and Yanbu, could also see as much as $70bn investment on new petrochemicals facilities.
All of the facilities will use liquid feedstock from refineries such as naphtha and natural gas liquids including propane and butane.
The minister also said that Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) was developing technology that would be able to create petrochemicals from crude oil and so bypass the traditional refining process.
A new facility was being planned for Yanbu which would be in partnership between Aramco and Sabic. The US ExxonMobil is the only company that is currently turning crude oil into chemicals at a plant in Singapore. The plant produces 1 million tonnes a year of ethylene.
MEED reported in November 2011 that the kingdoms two largest companies had been in discussions for a new facility in Yanbu and various studies have been carried out over the last two years.
Read more from Saudi Downstream 2014
You might also like...
McDermott completes financial restructuring exercise
28 March 2024
Region heads for hotel boom
28 March 2024
Lowest bidders emerge for Kuwait housing project
28 March 2024
Redcon wins Red Sea Triple Bay infrastructure deal
28 March 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.