Saudi Arabia and China partner to develop refineries

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and Chinese energy company Sinopec have signed agreements to develop refining complexes in both Saudi Arabia and China, the Saudi NOC announced on Sunday.

The first is a heads of agreement to develop the Gulei II integrated petrochemicals complex in Gulei, China.

The project will consist of a 320,000-bpd refinery and a 1.5-million-tonnes-per-year petrochemicals cracker. It is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2025.

The second is an MoU for economic and technical feasibility studies on a new petrochemicals complex in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Expected costs of both projects were not disclosed.

Saudi Aramco aims to expand its liquids-to-chemicals capacity to 4 billion bpd by 2030.

“These projects represent an opportunity to contribute to a modern, efficient and integrated downstream sector in both China and Saudi Arabia,” said Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, senior vice-president of downstream of Saudi Aramco.

“They also underpin our long-term commitment to remain a reliable supplier of energy and chemicals to Asia’s largest economy.”