Environment & Energy | Tuesday 9 October, 2018 5:00 am |

Saudi Aramco and Total signed on Monday a joint development agreement for a giant petrochemical complex in the Kingdom’s Jubail Industrial City.

President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin H. Nasser, and the CEO of Total, Jean Pouyanné, have signed the agreement in Dhahran to build the world-class complex announced last April.

The site will be located next to the cutting edge SATORP refinery and will be joint operated by Saudi Aramco and Total.

It will comprise a mixed-feed cracker – the first in the Arabian Gulf to be integrated with a refinery – with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units.

The project represents an investment of approximately $5 billion and is scheduled to start operating in 2024.

The project will also provide feedstock for other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants located in the Jubail industrial area and beyond, representing an additional $4 billion investment by third party investors, benefitting the Saudi economy.

Overall, the complex represents an investment of approximately $9 billion and is expected to create 8,000 local direct and indirect jobs.

“The petrochemicals sector has been undergoing significant growth globally and is one of the future growth engines,” Aramco CEO Nasser said.

“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.”

Total CEO Pouyanné 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.”

Saudi Aramco and Total signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in April.