Saudi Aramco, Sinopec Discussing JV Refinery in China
Posted on: Sunday, 28 August 2005, 03:01 CDT
Saudi Aramco is hoping to find a new outlet for Saudi crude oil at a 200,000-b/d grassroots refinery envisioned for Qingdao, China.
An Aramco subsidiary "is currently in talks for another joint- venture project with Sinopec to build a 200,000 b/d grassroots refinery in Qingdao," said Abdulaziz Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of international refining and marketing at Saudi Aramco.
"Asia has been and will continue to be one of our highest realization markets," he said, noting that Saudi Aramco would like to send "a higher percentage of our exports to the Asian markets." A new grassroots refinery in Qingdao would build on Saudi Aramco's existing relationship with Sinopec; the two, along with ExxonMobil, are working on a jointventure refining and petrochemical project in China's Fujian Province.
Al-Khayyal's announcement came recently after the refining executive wrapped up visits with several company executives across Asia.
"There is growth in demand in Asia, and Asia continues to depend on imported energy, and in particular oil from the Middle East," Al- Khayyal said. "We're going to do our part to meet this growing demand."
The Saudi Aramco executive further said that Asian firms "have been invited to participate" in projects in Saudi Arabia, but did not say if those invitations were extended to the company's plans for a grassroots export refinery at Yanbu on the Red Sea.
An Asia Pulse report recently said the Saudi firm sent a letter to Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) recently informing the Indian firms that they would not be chosen as equity partners in the Yanbu project.
Rejection of IOC and HPCL's participation wouldn't immediately open up the door to Asian investment in the project, however, as the report stated Saudi Arabia is looking for "western" partners in the Red Sea refinery plan.
Meanwhile, Al-Khayyal said it plans to boost its 10% stake in Showa Shell in Japan, obtained within the past year, to 15% this year.
Copyright Hart Energy Publishing, LP Jul 2005
Source: World Refining
Related Articles
- Saudi Aramco and Total Confirm $10 Billion Refinery Construction Project in Jubail, an Industrial Info News Alert
- Saudi Aramco Delivers First Consignment of Arabian Crude to Qingdao Refinery
- Saudi Aramco and Total Confirm Jubail Refinery Project
- Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips Announce Signing of Memorandum of Understanding for Yanbu Export Refinery Project
- Total, Saudi Aramco Make Refinery Deal
- Saudi Aramco, Sumitomo to Form JV Refinery/Petchem Plant
- Saudi Aramco Considering Petchem Production at Ras Tanura Refinery
- Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Co. To Develop Refining and Petrochemical Complex
- Foster Wheeler Awarded Feed/Project Management Services Contract By Saudi Aramco for Khurais Project
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds