Aramco CEO says oil-to-chemicals study to be ready by 2017

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) said the feasibility study to build an oil-to-chemicals plant would be ready by 2017, Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on the sidelines of signing an agreement with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).

The two companies are seeking to diversify the feedstock mix and make oil a viable petrochemical feedstock by building a fully integrated complex to process crude directly into chemicals.

They will also name the consulting firms which will undertake the potential project study, the report said.

The oil-to-chemicals plant is expected to be established in Yanbu, but the feasibility study will ultimately determine its final location.

The new project will help diversify the feedstock mix, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan said, adding that it is difficult in the meantime to determine the size of the related investments.