Saudi Aramco eyes new petrochemical plant in Texas

Saudi Aramco is expected to disclose on Saturday initial steps toward building a multibillion-dollar chemical plant in Texas, Reuters reported, citing to sources familiar with the matter.

Saudi Aramco has been mulling expanding its US subsidiary Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur, Texas refinery, which is already the largest in the United States by capacity.

Motiva, however, wants to first move into petrochemicals, using abundant natural gas from US shale fields to make the precursors for plastics, the sources said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to attend an event in Houston today where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih and Aramco CEO Amin Nasser are to discuss the plans, according to an Aramco representative.

“Motiva is actively exploring a number of opportunities as part of its growth strategy,” the company said on Friday. “These opportunities include locations where we currently operate as well as new ones.”

Saudi Aramco last year said it would invest $18 billion in Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery, which can process up to 603,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd).