Saudi Aramco, SABIC to develop innovative Crude Oil

Saudi Aramco and SABIC have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a fully integrated crude oil to chemicals (COTC) complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which governs the execution of the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) before a final investment decision is made.

The COTC complex is expected to process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which will produce approximately 9 million tonnes of chemicals and base oils annually and is expected to start operations in 2025.

Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said, "This project converges the commercial and strategic interests of both Saudi Aramco and SABIC, while reinforcing Saudi Aramco’s efforts to optimise the investment of our petroleum resources. COTC will also help expand our downstream portfolio, reducing our focus on the transportation sector and securing new and promising commercial opportunities."

SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan said, "This venture will contribute to the realisation of one of the major aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030, namely achieving economic prosperity by boosting our investment capacity, diversifying the economy and creating jobs for Saudi nationals. It will help strengthen our economic growth and attract world-class quality investments thanks to our unique and strategic geographic location."

The complex is expected to create an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, further stimulating the Kingdom’s economic diversification. By 2030 the COTC complex is expected to have 1.5 percent impact on the Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with investments being shared equally by both companies.