Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Aramco and French oil major Total signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for SAR 19.5 billion ($5.2 billion) to establish a large petrochemical complex in the Kingdom.
The new joint venture (JV) will include a giant mixed-feed steam cracker with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of petrochemical units and ethylene, Aramco said in a statement.
The complex will produce more than 2.7 million metric tonnes of high value chemicals, it added.
Aramco and Total planned to start front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the complex that will be located Jubail 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,” the statement added.
At $9 billion in total investments, the JV will provide around 8,000 direct and indirect job opportunities in the area.
“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,” Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser said.
Meanwhile, Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanné noted that the complex affirms his company’s strategy to achieve integration in the petrochemicals business and operations from low-cost feedstock.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pouyanné stated that Total plans to expand its JV refinery with Saudi Aramco.
Aramco owns a 62.5% stake in Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), while the French firm owns 37.5% stake.
