SABIC Committed to Investment Plans

SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Bunyan attends the Saudi-India Forum in New Delhi, India. (File photo/Reuters)
SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Bunyan attends the Saudi-India Forum in New Delhi, India. (File photo/Reuters)
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SABIC Committed to Investment Plans

SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Bunyan attends the Saudi-India Forum in New Delhi, India. (File photo/Reuters)
SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Bunyan attends the Saudi-India Forum in New Delhi, India. (File photo/Reuters)

Saudi Basic Industries Corp's (SABIC) investment plans will not be affected by oil giant, said SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Bunyan.

Aramco's purchase of a 70 percent stake in the company would look to integrate assets with Aramco to boost growth, Bunyan told Reuters Friday.

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, agreed on Wednesday to buy the stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for USD69.1 billion in one of the biggest deals in the global chemical industry.

The deal will take six to 12 months to complete, and there won't be any layoffs, change in management or impact on SABIC's balance sheet, he told Reuters in a phone interview.

"Once the anti-trust clearance is obtained, then immediately we will put a team together to look at areas of synergies in order for us to leverage our shareholder value," he said.

Meanwhile, SABIC participated in Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2019 for the sixth time in a row, where it shed light on the need for joint development.

Chairman of SABIC Dr. Abdulaziz Saleh Aljarbou said that the old measures are no more sufficient to meet today’s needs, amid the changes in the economic scene. Therefore, regional cooperation has become more important than any other time to achieve sustainable and comprehensive growth.

Bunyan pointed out that China and Asia still represent a strategic market for SABIC amid keenness of relevant main bodies in the region to deepen joint work for the sake of achieving effective cooperation among territories.

SABIC pavilion presented details of its innovative solutions that support the circular economy, provide environmental protection and reinforce energy consumption in various sectors.



Drilling at Kuwait’s Durra Field to Start this Year

Drilling at Kuwait’s Durra Field to Start this Year
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Drilling at Kuwait’s Durra Field to Start this Year

Drilling at Kuwait’s Durra Field to Start this Year

Procedures for drilling and construction work on the Durra gas field will begin later this year after engineering studies wrap up later this summer, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KPC) CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah told Reuters on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait affirm they jointly own rights to natural resources in Durra while Iran claims a stake in the Gulf's gas field.

Sheikh Nawaf said the company plans to invest 7 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($22.92 billion) on its upstream operations over the next five years.

He also said that KPC would reach a production capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year and expects to increase that to 4 million bpd by 2035.

Earlier, the CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation told CNBC Arabia that production operations in offshore reservoirs require seven years. “But we expect to start production from Al-Nokhatha field within a shorter period of time,” he said.

The CEO noted that the oil and gas discovery at Al-Nokhatha field supports Kuwait’s strategy to increase its capacity to 4 million bpd by 2035.

On Wednesday, State-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced preparations to begin digging six new exploratory wells in the country’s territorial waters, which contains large hydrocarbon resources.

The announcement came after KPC said on Sunday it had made a “giant” oil discovery in the Al-Nokhatha field, with oil reserves estimated at 3.2 billion barrels.