Aramco, Sumitomo approve second phase of Saudi petrochemicals expansion
Joint venture partners Sumitomo Chemical and Saudi Aramco are moving ahead with phase two of their Petro Rabigh integrated refinery and petrochemicals expansion in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, the companies announced on Friday.
A recently-completed study has confirmed the feasibility of the Rabigh II project, after which the companies finalized various project elements, they said.
Those include agreements for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and other project contracts, as well as project financing.
The Rabigh II Project, by expanding the existing 1.3 million tpy ethane cracker and building a new aromatics complex, will use an additional 30 million standard cubic feet/day of ethane and approximately 3 million tpy of naphtha as feedstock to produce a variety of petrochemical products.
Each plant will be brought on stream as it becomes available for operation, beginning the first half of 2016, the companies said.
It is envisaged that, subject to the necessary corporate authorization procedure at PetroRabigh, Petro Rabigh will serve as the project company for the Rabigh II Project.
The total investment is projected to reach $7 billion. Sumitomo Chemical and Saudi Aramco each have a 37.5% stake in Petro Rabigh.
The Rabigh II project’s main products will be ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), low density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate (LDPE/EVA), paraxylene/benzene, cumene and phenol/acetone.
Capacity information was not disclosed.
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