The world’s largest oil producer Saudi Aramco is considering building a $20bn refining and petrochemical complex at Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.
Reuters reports that the new refinery would have a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and stand next to an existing refinery at Yanbu, wholly owned by Aramco, which has a capacity of 240,000 bpd and would also supply the planned petrochemical complex.
Industry sources told Reuters that the UK-based Amec Foster Wheeler was expected to win the contract to execute front-end engineering and design work for the project.
The project, planning for which is still in the initial stages, would be completed in 2023 if it goes ahead, one of the sources said.
Aramco has been integrating its refineries with petrochemical production as it develops its downstream business and expands its trading of refined products.
It is already building with Dow Chemical Co a mixed-feed ethane/naphtha cracker for its petrochemical complex in Jubail at a cost of approximately $20bn.
