Saudi Aramco and Total have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
The complex will be integrated downstream of the SATORP refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Total in Jubail, in a move designed to fully exploit operational synergies. This worldclass refinery, whose capacity increased from 400,000 bpd at its start-up in 2014 to 440,000 bpd today, is recognized as 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-percent ethane and refinery off-gas) with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units. The project will represent an investment of around $5 billion. 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 $4 billion investment by third-party investors.
In total, $9 billion will be invested, creating 8,000 local direct and indirect jobs. The project will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of high-value chemicals.
Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said, "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."
"This project illustrates our strategy of maximizing 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 Pouyann©, chairman and CEO of Total.
For more information, visit www.saudiaramco.com or www.total.com.