Saudi Aramco, S-Oil sign MoU for $6 bn steam cracker

The project is expected to be completed by 2024.

The new agreement supports Saudi Aramco’s plan to increase its global petrochemicals footprint over the next decade. It will further include the deployment of Saudi Aramco’s Thermal Crude-to-Chemicals Technology, shifting S-Oil’s focus from “oil to chemicals” to better position the company in the future energy market.

The MoU was signed during the inauguration of S-Oil’s new residue upgrading complex and olefin downstream complex during the visit of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud to Seoul recently.

The newly inaugurated facilities “will supply high-value products to major Korean industries, whose global brands are part of our everyday lives and rank among the world’s very best in technology, innovation, creativity, and quality,” said Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin H Nasser.

The new facilities feature the latest refinery technologies, which have raised S-Oil’s petrochemical portion from 8 per cent to 13 per cent and includes high-value products such as propylene and gasoline.

Aramco Overseas Company is a major shareholder in S-Oil which is South Korea’s third-largest refiner. Saudi Aramco initially invested in S-Oil in 1991, and their relationship continues to grow stronger, with the refining capacity increasing from 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 1990 to roughly 700,000 bpd in 2018. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India