MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco said its joint venture (JV) in China plans to start the construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in the northeast of the country, said Middleeastbusiness.
The venture, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), is developing the complex that will combine a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery and a petrochemical plant with an annual production capacity of 1.65 million metric tons of ethylene and two million metric tons of paraxylene.
Aramco holds a 30 per cent shareholding in HAPCO while China’s NORINCO Group owns a 51 per cent stake and the other 19 per cent is owned by Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group.
Construction is due to start in the second quarter of 2023 after the project secures the required administrative approvals. It is expected to be fully operational by 2026.
Saudi Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock to the complex, which is being built in the city of Panjin, in China’s Liaoning province.
“This important project will support China’s growing demand for fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand,” said Mohammed Y Al Qahtani, Aramco executive vice president of downstream.
We remind, Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and Linde Engineering, a global leader in the production and processing of gases, announced that they have signed an agreement to jointly develop a new ammonia cracking technology.