New Saudi Aramco shipyard to cost over $5 bln, says Al-Falih

The shipbuilding and repair complex that company Saudi Aramco is developing at Ras al-Khair is expected to cost more than SAR 20 billion ($5.33 billion), Reuters reported, citing energy minister Khalid Al-Falih.

"Construction will start in 2018, production in 2022," Falih, who is also chairman of Aramco, was quoted as saying.

The government will finance the infrastructure of the new shipyard, as it did with Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities, which are now major industrial hubs.

The complex is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Bahri, South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Lamprell.

Falih said other partnerships are also expected to materialize, such as with US Mcdermott Company, which will make offshore platforms.

The minister was speaking to journalists to brief them on the inauguration by King Salman of oil and gas and industrial projects and a cultural center. These projects cost around SAR 160 billion, he said.

The Sadara joint venture between Aramco and Dow Chemical alone had cost as much as SAR 80 billion, he added.

Saudi Aramco has recently completed several projects, including: Khurais oilfield, which has a production capacity of 1.2 million bpd, and Shaybah, which now has a 1 million bpd capacity after recently completing an expansion.

The state-owned oil giant is currently working on expanding capacity at Khurais to 1.5 million bpd by 2018.

"The production capacity of oil projects that the King will inaugurate exceeds or is around 3 million barrels per day," Falih said.

Saudi Arabia's maximum sustainable production capacity stands at 12.5 million bpd, Falih said as the additional capacity was just a replacement for mature oilfields.