Aramco and Total Progress $9B Petrochem Project

Aramco and Total Progress $9B Petrochem Project
Saudi Aramco and Total sign a joint development agreement for the front-end engineering and design of a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco and Total have signed a joint development agreement for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

The overall complex will represent an investment of approximately $9 billion and is expected to create 8,000 local direct and indirect jobs, according to a statement published on Saudi Aramco’s website.

Located next to the SATORP refinery, the complex will comprise a mixed-feed cracker with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related petrochemical units and is scheduled to start-up in 2024. The project, which was first announced in April, will also provide feedstock for other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants located in the Jubail industrial area and beyond.

“The petrochemicals sector has been undergoing significant growth globally and is one of the future growth engines,” Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser said in a company statement.

“SATORP’s second-phase expansion represents a significant value addition in Saudi Aramco’s downstream strategy to maximize the full value of our vast resources portfolio and position the Kingdom as a chemicals manufacturing and exports hub, supporting economic growth and diversification as part of Vision 2030,” he added.

Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO of Total, said, “we are delighted to write a new page of our joint history by launching a new giant project, building on the successful development of SATORP, our biggest and most efficient refinery in the world”.

“This world-class complex also fits with our strategy to expand in petrochemicals by maximizing the synergies within our major platforms, leveraging low-cost feedstocks and taking advantage of the fast growing Asian polymer market,” he added.

 

 

On October 7, Total announced that it had signed a shareholder agreement to create a joint venture known as STEP (Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymeres), which will be responsible for carrying out a joint petrochemical project in Arzew, western Algeria.

This project includes a propane dehydrogenation unit and a polypropylene production unit with an output capacity of 550,000 tons per year. The two partners (Sonatrach 51 percent, Total 49 percent) are planning to start the FEED from November.



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