Saudi petrochemicals plant targets India, China

A giant petrochemical project set up in Saudi Arabia last year will target the fast-growing markets of India and China when it completes expansions to turn it into one of the largest industrial complexes of its kind in the world.

Petro Rabigh, located at the western Red Sea ancient port of Rabigh, currently pumps nearly 400,000 barrels per day of crude but it is set to produce nearly 18 million tonnes of petrochemical-based products per year when massive expansions are completed within a $10-billion development programme, said the government-owned Saudi Aramco, which co-owns the 25-kilometre complex as a joint venture with Sumitomo of Japan.

In a report about the project published in its quarterly bulletin, Saudi Aramco described Petro Rabigh as the largest integrated refining and petrochemical complex ever built in the world at a single time.

In the initial stages of expansions, the complex will produce 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemical solids and liquids, along with large volumes of gasoline and other refined products, said Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company.

“Petro Rabigh will be producing more than 18 million tonnes of petroleum-based products per year, with some two-and-a half-million tonnes per annum of ethylene- and propylene-based derivatives,” it said.

“Petro Rabigh is also considered the largest integrated refining and petrochemicals production facility in the region (among the top 15 worldwide), with an initial crude processing capacity of 400,000 barrels per day, set to expand in later phases of the project. Its products will be marketed across Europe and Asia, with a particular focus on meeting the needs of the dynamic emerging markets in India and China.”

The report said the complex includes a higholefins-yield fluid catalytic cracker complex integrated with a world-scale, ethane-based cracker.

This is designed to annually produce around 1.3 million tonnes of ethylene and 900,000 tonnes of propylene, as well as 60,000 barrels of gasoline per day. Petrochemical units will convert all of the olefin production to downstream products.

According to the 10-page report, Petro Rabigh produces ethane-derived products, which will include: ethylene, polyethylene, propylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide and ethylene glycol.

Crude-oil derived products produced at Petro Rabigh will include: gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil, it said.

“The existing refinery currently produces naphtha, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil… Petro Rabigh will increase its production range in subsequent development phases of the project……….production will go beyond basic commodities into very specific and unique products, such as thermoplastics, suitable for smallersize businesses and the niche market.”

It said Ethane-derived products include Ethylene, polyethylene, propylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide and mono ethylene glycol.

Crude-oil derived products include around 60,000 bpd of gasoline, 72,000 bpd of naphtha, 146,000 bpd of kerosene and diesel and 89,000 bpd of fuel oil.

The report said the second phase of the project will add the following units and capacity to the already existing refinery facility:

-De-bottleneck Ethane Cracker
-Naphtha Reformer.
-An MTBE/isobutylene unit.
-A metathesis unit.
-Ethylene propylene rubber.
-Thermo plastic olefin.
-Methyl methacrylate.
-Poly methyl methacrylate.
-Low density polyethylene.
-Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.
-Caprolactum
-Phenol unit will produce phenol.
-Super absorber polymer.
-Cyclohexanone.
- Nylon.

Petro Rabigh is a Saudi Arabian limited liability company with ownership divided between Saudi Aramco (37.5 per cent), Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., of Japan (37.5 per cent) and the Saudi Arabian public (25 per cent).

In January 2008, the venture successfully executed its initial public offering of 25 per cent of the company’s capital.

The listing of Petro Rabigh on the Saudi stock market, Tadawul, marks a first for a Saudi Aramco venture to be listed on the Kingdom’s stock exchange.
 

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