Sabic has revealed plans to build an oil-to-chemicals (OTC) complex in Saudi Arabia that would operate from 2020.
The petrochemicals group said the plant – the first of its kind in the kingdom – would use about 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily as a feedstock.
Chemical companies normally crack gas or refined oil products to produce ethylene and propylene, used to make plastics and other products. ExxonMobil started the world’s first plant to process crude oil into chemicals at Singapore last year.
In March, Saudi oil minister Ali al Naimi said an oil-to-chemicals plant would be built at Yanbu, an industrial hub on the kingdom’s west coast.
However, Sabic‘s chairman, Prince Saud bin Thenayan al Saud, announced on the Sabic Innovation Day on 14 May that the project could be in either Yanbu or Jubail.
Sabic CEO Mohamed Al Mady said the OTC complex will establish Saudi Arabia as “a technology leader in the petrochemical industry”.
“OTC technology allows for the conversion of crude oil to petrochemical products at the highest ever achieved conversion rate in a competitive and sustainable way,” he added.