Communicator

Saudi Arabia, 27 Feb 2025 - Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) and global chemical giant LyondellBasell have announced a significant partnership to explore the development of a world-scale mixed-feed cracker in Saudi Arabia, bolstered by their successful securing of feedstock allocation from the Saudi government.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a joint feasibility study for the proposed facility, which would utilize both ethane and refinery off-gases as feedstock. This mixed-feed approach offers greater flexibility in raw material sourcing while potentially improving the economics of the operation.

The proposed cracker would be integrated with downstream units to produce a range of high-value petrochemical products, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and various specialty chemicals. Industry analysts estimate the total investment could exceed $5 billion, though the companies have not confirmed specific figures pending the feasibility study's completion.

For LyondellBasell, the partnership represents a strategic move to expand its presence in the Middle East, a region that offers competitive feedstock advantages and growing domestic markets. The company has been actively restructuring its global portfolio, seeking opportunities in regions with favorable economics while potentially divesting from higher-cost locations.

The Saudi government has strongly supported the development of domestic petrochemical capacity through initiatives like Vision 2030, which aims to reduce the country's dependence on crude oil exports by developing downstream industries, aligning with national priorities to capture more value from the country's natural resources.

If the feasibility study yields positive results, construction could begin as early as 2026, with production potentially starting by 2029. The facility would likely be located in Jubail Industrial City, where Sipchem already operates several petrochemical plants and where existing infrastructure could support the new development.

The project faces competition from similar large-scale petrochemical developments in the region, including those being pursued by Saudi Aramco and SABIC. However, industry experts believe growing global demand for petrochemical products, particularly in emerging Asian markets, provides room for multiple new facilities.

The announcement comes as part of a broader wave of petrochemical investments in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region, as producers seek to capitalize on competitive feedstock costs while meeting growing global demand for plastics and other petrochemical derivatives.

#aramco  #sabic  #sipchem  #lyondellbasell  #steamcracker  #ethane  #rog  #polyethylene  #polypropylene  #saudirabia 

The Shahen TC2C Project Mass Balance has been completed. 
The TC2C Plant will import 46,000 bpd of Arab Light crude oil, corresponding to 2,300,000 tonnes annually.
However, in order to obtain the announced product quantities (1,800,000 tonnes of ethylene, 770,000 tonnes of propylene, 200,000 tonnes of butadiene, and 280,000 tonnes of benzene) our calculation based on typical cracking yields show that the feedstock needs to amount to almost 5 million tonnes.
The cracker will use ROG so that certainly some ethane will be additionally consumed by the cracker, but the feedstock balance reaquired for the precise product quantities is made of 150,000 tonnes of ethane, 1,300,000 tonnes of LPG (C3/C4 = 1:1 ratio) and 3,500,000 tonnes naphtha. Therefrom, 275,000 tonnes of LPG and 1,350,000 tonnes of nahptha  will be provided by the TC2C plant.
We assume that the supplemental feedstock will be imported, unless additional crude oil will be imported and processed with conventional distillation units.
As this is a TC2C demonstration project, it is assumed that only the theoretical quantities of pygas and pyoil originating from the TC2C provided feedstock to the cracker will be recirculated to the TC2C hydrocracking and hydroreating units (270,000 from 475,000 tonnes of pygas, and 65,000 from 113,000 tonnes of fuel oil).
In reality, the sizing of the various hydroprocessing/hydrotreatment units maybe different, but absent confirmation on units capacities, this is our best educated guess.


#tc2c  #shaheen  #massbalance  #crudetochemicals  #crudeoiltochemicals  #c2c  #tc2c  #cotc  #aramco  #soil  #southkorea 

Saudi Arabian Oil Co., DHAHRAN, 17^th Nov 2022, Aramco affiliate S-OIL to build one of the world’s largest petrochemical crackers in South Korea

Aramco is making its biggest ever investment in South Korea to develop one of the world’s largest refinery-integrated petrochemical steam crackers through its S-OIL affiliate, in line with the company’s strategy to maximize the crude to chemicals value chain.

The $7 billion Shaheen project aims to convert crude oil into petrochemical feedstock and would represent the first commercialization of Aramco and Lummus Technology’s TC2C thermal crude to chemicals technology, which increases chemical yield and reduces operating costs. It follows an earlier $4 billion investment into the first phase of the petrochemical expansion completed in 2018.

Located at S-Oil’s existing site in Ulsan, the new plant is planned to have the capacity to produce up to 3.2 million tons of petrochemicals annually and include a facility to produce high-value polymers. The project is expected to start in 2023 and be completed by 2026.

The steam cracker is expected to process by-products from crude processing, including naphtha and off-gas, to produce ethylene — a building block petrochemical used to make thousands of everyday items. The plant is also expected to produce propylene, butadiene and other basic chemicals.

#shaheen  #soil  #petrochemicals  #tc2c  #oiltochemicals  #crudeoiltochemicals  #southkorea  #aramco  #steamcracker  #ulsan  #thermalcrudetochemical  #naphtha 

Release time: 2023-09-15 15:21:50 Source: Saudi Arabia News (Reprinted by Business Department 3)

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced the commercial operation of a new polycarbonate (PC) plant built by the SSTPC joint venture. SSTPC is jointly funded by both parties in a 50:50 ratio. 

Founded in 2009, Sinopec (Tianjin) Petrochemical is a large petrochemical company with nine world-class chemical, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) production plants. The new polycarbonate plant is designed to produce 260,000 tons per year and is an important part of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation's polycarbonate growth strategy in China, which will promote cooperation with international and local customers.


#sabic  #aramco  #saudiarabia  #china  #sinopec  #tianjin  #petrochemical  #binhai  #polycarbonate  #sstpc 

Credit: Petro Rabigh, Rabigh Phase 1

Saudi Aramco, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire an additional stake of approximately 22.5% in Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. (“Petro Rabigh”), the refining and petrochemical complex located on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s west coast, from Sumitomo Chemical for $702 million.

Aramco and Tokyo-headquartered Sumitomo Chemical currently each own 37.5% of shares in Petro Rabigh, which was listed on the Saudi Exchange in 2008. Upon completion of the transaction, which is priced at SAR7 per share, Aramco will become Petro Rabigh’s largest shareholder with an equity stake of approximately 60%, while Sumitomo Chemical will retain an equity stake of 15%. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and other third-party approvals, is part of a package of financial measures intended to reinforce Petro Rabigh’s financial position.

Under the terms of the share sale and purchase agreement, all proceeds received by Sumitomo Chemical from the sale will be injected into Petro Rabigh, through a mechanism to be agreed with Petro Rabigh. Aramco will also provide additional funds to Petro Rabigh, via a mechanism also to be agreed, matching the $702m from Sumitomo Chemical to improve Petro Rabigh’s financial position and support Petro Rabigh’s future strategy, bringing the aggregate injection amount to US$1.4 billion.

In addition, Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical have agreed to a phased waiver of shareholder loans of $750m each, which will result in a $1.5bn direct reduction in Petro Rabigh’s liabilities.

These measures are expected to improve Petro Rabigh’s balance sheet and cash liquidity as part of a remedial plan that Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical intend to explore with Petro Rabigh, which also includes initiatives to upgrade the refinery with the aim of helping improve the profitability of the business. The agreement also aligns with Aramco’s downstream expansion and Sumitomo Chemical’s move away from commodity chemicals toward specialty chemicals.

Source: Aramco news, 7^th Aug 2024

#refining  #refinery  #aramco  #sumitomo