Total may sign the deal for another petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia very soon. This project could well be hot on the heels of the inauguration of Satorp, the Saudi Aramco-Total joint venture refining and petrochemical complex.
The opening of the 400,000 barrels per day integrated complex is due before the end of 2013, well ahead of its original schedule. Crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Safaniya and Manifa fields will feed the refinery, which will produce gasoline, diesel and other products from the refinery and paraxylene from the aromatics unit.
“We are discussing with Saudi Aramco for Satorp 2, which could be a facility for a whole new petchem product. In this business, integration of facilities is key and profitable. Once we have the logistics, infrastructure and storage for a complex, it is only logical to expand the plant for optimal use of existing facilities,” said Patrick Pouyanne, president of Refining & Chemicals at Total to Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East at a conference in Paris.
Pouyanne added that Satorp 2 would be a mixed-feed cracker, but stopped short of mentioning the exact production figures of the proposed plant. “If Satorp is a success, we could definitely be looking at a new plant,” he said. Satorp products will be marketed by both Saudi Aramco and Total. Total will possibly try and sell the products in Europe, Asia and the United States.
When asked if the paraxylene of Satorp would be used in the local conversion industry, Pouyanne said, Total was happy to support the local manufacturers with feedstock but only at international rates.
At the minute, Pouyanne sees increasing demand for the paraxylene in China for its textile industry.
Read more about Total’s downstream plans in Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East’s June issue.
