Saudi Aramco to pump $7 bln into largest petchem funding in South Korea

Saudi Aramco plans a $7-billion funding at a South Korean affiliate’s manufacturing unit within the port metropolis of Ulsan to end up extra high-value petrochemical merchandise, the corporate mentioned on Thursday.

The venture, named Shaheen, is the Saudi agency’s largest funding within the Asian nation to develop one of many world’s largest refinery-integrated petrochemical steam crackers, Aramco mentioned in a press release.

Saudi Aramco owns greater than 63% of South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp.

Building of the brand new plant will start in 2023 and be accomplished by 2026. It would have manufacturing capability of as much as 3.2 million tonnes a yr, together with a facility to supply high-value polymers, Aramco mentioned.

The steam cracker is anticipated to course of by-products from crude processing, together with naphtha and off-gas, to make ethylene, and can also be anticipated to supply propylene, butadiene and different primary chemical compounds.

On completion of the venture, S-Oil’s chemical yield, by quantity, may nearly double to 25%, Aramco mentioned.

World petrochemical demand progress is “anticipated to speed up, pushed partly by rising consumption from Asia’s rising economies,” Chief Govt Amin Nasser mentioned within the assertion.

The venture is effectively positioned to satisfy rising demand from Asia’s industries, he added.

The information got here at the side of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s go to to South Korea on Thursday.

($1=1,332.8900 received)