Partners take FID on major Saudi petrochemical facility

SAUDI Aramco and TotalEnergies have taken a final investment decision (FID) to construct a huge petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia. The project represents an investment of US$11bn.

The Amiral complex will comprise a mixed feed cracker capable of producing 1.65m t/y of ethylene. It will also include two polypropylene units using advanced dual loop technology, a butadiene extraction unit, and other associated derivatives units.

Amiral’s cracker will be the first in the region to be integrated with a refinery. It will be owned, operated, and integrated with the existing SATORP refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which began operating in 2014. The petrochemical complex will allow SATORP to convert internally produced off-gases and naphtha, as well as ethane and natural gas supplied by Aramco, into higher chemicals.

In future, the complex will also provide feedstock to other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants which the partners expect to be built in the Jubail area by downstream investors. This will support the establishment of key manufacturing industries such as carbon fibres, lubricants, drilling fluids, detergents, food additives, automotive parts, and tyres.

The complex, including adjacent facilities, is expected to create 7,000 local direct and indirect jobs.

Construction on the project is scheduled to begin during Q1 of 2023, with commercial operation targeted for 2027.

Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, said that the collaboration is aimed at expanding the value chain by producing advanced chemicals “more efficiently than ever before”, accelerating industrial progress in the country.