Sinopec, Aramco to add major petrochemical capacity at Yanbu complex

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) are partnering on a project to integrate petrochemical operations into jointly owned Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co. Ltd.’s (Yasref) 430,000-b/d refinery along the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Industrial City.

On Apr. 8, the partners signed a venture framework agreement to advance the Yanbu refinery expansion project (Yasref+), which aims to enhance integrated refining and petrochemical synergies at the site to help competitively meet growing global market demand for high-end petrochemical products, Aramco and Sinopec said in separate Apr. 9-10 releases.

The proposed Yasref+ project would include construction of a grassroots mixed-feed steam cracker equipped to produce 1.8 million tonnes/year (tpy) of ethylene, as well as installation of a new 1.5-million tpy aromatics plant with associated downstream polyolefin units, the companies said.

In addition to integrating the new ethylene, aromatics, and polyolefin units with existing infrastructure, the partners said the planned expansion will incorporate yet-to-be-identified advanced technologies and green innovations.

Aligned with both operators’ goals of enhancing Yasref’s global competitiveness while advancing modernization of the petrochemical industry, Sinopec and Aramco said the planned expansion ultimately would position the Yanbu manufacturing site as a global integrated refining and petrochemical hub contributing to a low-carbon energy transition.

While Aramco confirmed engineering studies for Yasref+ are already under way, the partners revealed neither a timeframe for taking final investment decision on the project nor an anticipated timeline for when the potential expansion would be completed.

The planned petrochemical integration project at Yasref—a joint venture of Aramco 62.5% and Sinopec 37.5%—follows a 2022 memorandum of understanding between the partners that included assessing additional refining and petrochemical integration opportunities between the parties (OGJ Online, Aug. 11, 2022).