Saudi Aramco set to invest $30 bln in Motiva by 2023

State-run Saudi Aramco plans to invest up to $30 billion in its American subsidiary Motiva Enterprises by 2023, the oil giant said on Wednesday at a business summit in the Kingdom.

The company will initially inject $12 billion in expanding refining capacity at Motiva's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and extending the company’s operations in the petrochemical value chain, it added in a statement.

An additional investment of $18 billion is likely to be pumped in Motiva by 2023.

Motiva has been considering plans for further expansion of the Port Arthur refinery, since the completion of an expansion at the refinery in 2012, which more than doubled its crude oil capacity to 603,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The Port Arthur expansion would create additional 2,500 jobs in the near term, while other 12,000 jobs would be provided by 2023.

Saudi Aramco has also looked at acquiring at least an additional Gulf Coast refinery and visited chemical plants up for sale.

Motiva became an Aramco subsidiary early in May following a division of a 19-year partnership with Shell.

Under the deal, Aramco retained the Motiva name and the Port Arthur refinery along with distribution terminals across seven states.