Saudi Aramco and Dow
Announce the Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to
Develop One of the Largest Grassroots Plastics and Chemicals
Production Complexes in the World
The
project will facilitate the development of downstream conversion
industries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Aramco, a fully-integrated, global petroleum enterprise and the world's leading energy supplier, and The Dow Chemical Company, the world's leading science and technology company, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to consumers around the globe, today announced the signing of a detailed Memorandum of Understanding regarding the construction, ownership and operation of a world-scale chemicals and plastics production complex in Saudi Arabia, named the Ras Tanura Integrated Project. The parties will now enter the final negotiation phase for the formation of a joint venture company to build, own and operate the facility to be located near Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The Ras Tanura petrochemical joint venture will be operationally integrated with Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura Refinery complex and its Ju'aymah gas processing plant, two of the largest facilities of their kind in the world. The latter two facilities will supply feedstock to the joint venture and continue to be owned and operated by Saudi Aramco.
2006/7/18 アラムコの新石油化学計画
2007/4/19 中東の石化計画、建設費アップが重大問題に
Dow in Saudi chemical plant deal
Saudi Aramco and US Dow Chemical Co announced yesterday a deal to build a petrochemical plant that industry insiders expect to be the largest foreign investment in Saudi Arabia's energy sector.
The cost of the Ras Tanura plastics and chemicals complex would be "mammoth", said Saudi Aramco's President Abdullah Juma, although he declined to give details.
Diversification
At the new Ras Tanura project, the key units are an ethane and naphtha cracker, a catalytic cracking unit and an aromatics unit. The units will help convert Saudi Arabia's heavy sour crude to high value plastics. The project will feature more than 30 downstream process units, employ 4,000 workers and produce more than 300 different products.
Companies plan to float 30% stake in new unit
- Industry sources said the plant would have an investment cost of at least $20 billion.
- The companies plan to float a 30 per cent stake in Ras Tanura and raise the rest through debt.
- Aramco will supply the plant from the nearby 550,000 barrels per day Ras Tanura oil refinery and Ju'aymah gas processing plant.
- Saudi Arabia plans to raise petrochemical output to 100 million tonnes in 2015 from 60 million tonnes at present.
April 13
(Reuters)
Aramco
delays Ras Tanura refinery expansion
State oil giant Saudi Aramco has delayed plans to expand
capacity by 400,000 barrels per day at its Ras Tanura refinery, industry sources said on
Monday.
The project would take refining capacity at Ras
Tanura to 950,000 bpd. The existing plant has capacity of
550,000 bpd and is already the largest refining complex in the
Middle East.
The refinery's expansion is to help meet both rising domestic
demand and to supply feedstock to a giant petrochemical
joint venture between Dow Chemical Co and Aramco to be built nearby.
A third source on Monday said the
petrochemical project had also been delayed. Completion of
preliminary design and engineering for the petrochemical plant
would take until the first or second quarter of 2010, from the
initial target of end 2009.
Aramco has delayed two other 400,000 bpd
refinery projects at Jubail and Yanbu as it wants contractors
to revise prices to reflect the slump in the cost of raw
materials since the global economic slowdown took hold.
2008/12/10 サウジアラムコ、石油開発計画を延期
Saudi Aramco とConocoPhillips は2008年11月6日、Yanbu Industrial City に日産40万バレルの重質油完全改質製油所を新設する計画の延期を決めたと発表した。
Saudi Aramco とフランスのTotal は2008年6月22日、Jubail に日産400千バレルの製油所を建設する契約に調印したが、11月末に、金融市場の不安定を理由に、入札を延期すると発表した。