Saudi Aramco Total refining and Petrochemical Company (Satorp) is expected to achieve the mechanical completion of its integrated project during the second quarter 2012, according to Salem Shaheen, president and CEO of the company.
“The total cost of the project is something above S$12bn,”Shaheen told Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East magazine in an exclusive interview. “We are planning to start up in the first quarter 2013,” he added.
The refinery, which is located in Jubail industrial area, will process 400,000 bpd of Arabian heavy crude oil from Manifa field, and produce wide variety of refined and petrochemical products including diesel with 10 ppm specifications instead of the 500 ppm (the content of sulfer). “We have signed off take agreements to sell the products,” he revealed.
Satorp has signed the off take agreements Total and Aramco. “The demand in Saudi Arabia is increasing, and Aramco may be buying the Total share,” he noted.
The company awarded the 13 EPC contracts in July 2009, after delaying the award for more than six months. “Initially, we were supposed to award the contracts in the fourth quarter 2008, but due to the economic down turn, we delayed the award for 3 months, and then another three months,” he added.
“We received good bids and we expect to raise $8 billion in debt financing for the integrated project in the coming months,” he added. The $8 billion debt package includes the sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, Shaheen said.
