Page 6 - MEOG Week 43

MEOG Commentary MEOG
Amiral contract awarded
as Aramco maintains
downstream focus
Saudi Aramco has continued its downstream expansion, making progress at Ras Tanura and awarding a contract for Amiral, and is potentially considering investment in another Indian refiner.
saUdi arabia
What:
A naphtha splitter column has been delivered to the Ras Tanura Clean fuels Project and McDermott has been awarded a contract to develop
part of the new Amiral chemicals complex.
Why:
Aramco is increasing its downstream capabilities at home and abroad.
What next:
with projects ongoing in several countries, Aramco is considering multiple multi-billion dollar acquisitions to expand its downstream footprint.
SAUDI Arabia has awarded a contract for a major petrochemicals complex while making progress on the so-called Clean Fuels Project as Riyadh continues its downstream push.
US engineering firm McDermott has been awarded a deal to develop a cracker at Jubail in the Eastern Province, while Saudi Aramco has hailed the installation of a naphtha splitter col- umn at the nearby Ras Tanura Refinery Clean Fuels Project.
amiral announcement
On October 22, McDermott announced that it had been awarded the contract for the mixed feed cracker at the Amiral complex, which is under development by Saudi Aramco and French super-major Total.
The deal will see the US firm provide licences, basic engineering package, extended basic engineering, training, technical services and supply of proprietary equipment for the unit. McDermott said that the contract was worth $50mn-250mn.
The contract includes facilities for the pro- duction of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and butadiene as well as pygas hydrotreating.
In October 2018, Aramco and Total signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to pro- ceed with the development of a world-scale petrochemicals complex near their joint venture integrated SATORP facility, highlighting the closeness of their downstream ties.
When announcing plans for Amiral, the partners also stated their intention of attracting $4bn in investment in additional petrochemicals and speciality chemical facilities in Jubail and elsewhere.
This will feed off the estimated $5bn main plant, which will comprise a 1.5mn tonne per year (tpy) mixed-feed cracker and derivatives units, and be completed in 2024.
In January, a memorandum of understand- ing (MoU) was signed Aramco, Total and South Korea’s Daelim to build an 80,000 tpy polyisobu- tylene (PIB) plant that will use feedstock from Amiral.
Meanwhile, in June, the Saudi-French team signed an MoU with UK-based Ineos to build three new plants in Jubail in the kingdom’s East- ern Province. This deal covered the construction of a 425,000 tpy acrylonitrile plant, a 400,000 tpy unit for linear alpha olefins (LAO) and a “world- scale” polyalphaolefin (PAO) facility, with all scheduled to begin production in 2025.
The new units will be part of the Jubail 2 com- plex and will be located alongside SATORP. Ara- mco and Total own stakes of 62.5% and 37.5% respectively in both SATORP and Amiral.
tanura technology
Around 70km down the coast, Aramco hailed progress at the Ras Tanura Refinery Clean Fuels Project, announcing that the naphtha splitter column had reached its final location, having been transported from Jubail.
The 544-tonne unit will split hydrotreated naphtha into light and heavy naphtha and will act as the main feeder to continuous catalytic reforming (CCR) and isomerisation units at the refinery, which will have capacities of 90,000 and 65,000 barrels per day (bpd) respectively. In a press release, Aramco said that these units would be the largest of their kind in the world.
The Ras Tanura facility will also feature a 138,000 bpd naphtha hydrotreater.
indian investment
Reports emerged this week that suggested Ara- mco was among the frontrunners in the race to acquire the Indian government’s majority stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL).
Local media said that New Delhi was
P6
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 43 29•October•2019