Saudi Arabia keen to support petrochemical sector: KACST

20 May '13

2 min read

Saudi Arabia’s national science agency, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), is keen on developing research and programs to support the country’s petrochemical sector, said the president of KACST, Mohammed bin Ibrahim Alsuwaiyel, at the 2nd Saudi International Petrochemicals Technologies Conference 2013, held at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

At the conference, Mr. Alsuwaiyel said Saudi Arabia should focus on its exports of primary petrochemicals and also produce value-added products from basic petrochemicals using innovative technologies. This could be achieved by using strategic and advanced technologies in the petrochemicals field to manufacture finished products from primary ones.

The conference was held to discuss Saudi Arabia’s capacity of raw materials including oil, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas and discuss upon setting up new ventures to explore innovative technologies in the petrochemical sector.

Mohamed Al-Mady, vice chairman of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), who was also present at the conference, said Saudi Arabia would be able to benefit from exporting raw materials and value-added petrochemical products only if they are of good quality.

Saudi Arabia is considered among the largest producers of polymers in the world with an annual production of more than 8 million tons. In 2012, Saudi Arabia produced more than 18 million tons of ethylene, the most basic petrochemical that is also used as a raw material for the textile industry.

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