SABIC, Aramco to Expand Scope of Converting Crude Oil to Chemicals Project

A view shows branded oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
A view shows branded oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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SABIC, Aramco to Expand Scope of Converting Crude Oil to Chemicals Project

A view shows branded oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
A view shows branded oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

SABIC announced plans to expand the scope of converting crude oil to chemicals project with Saudi Aramco to include existing development programs of advancing crude to chemicals technologies as well as through integrating existing facilities, according to official statements on Tadawul.

The two oil and chemical giants SABIC and Saudi Aramco are looking at opportunities for integration with existing facilities to maximize the economic value while evaluating the optimal technical options and market risks.

Also, both parties intend to re-evaluate the scope of the Crude-Oil-to-Chemicals complex project and study the integration of Saudi Aramco’s existing refineries in Yanbu with a world-scale mixed feed steam cracker and downstream olefin derivative units.

"SABIC and Saudi Aramco remain committed to continue advancing crude to chemicals technologies through existing development programs with the goal to increase cost efficiency, competitiveness and value creation opportunities for petrochemicals," the statement on Tadawul read.

In 2017, SABIC and Aramco signed an MoU to study the feasibility of developing an industrial complex to convert crude oil to chemicals.



Iraq Appoints Ali Al-Shatari as Director General of Oil Marketer SOMO

A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
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Iraq Appoints Ali Al-Shatari as Director General of Oil Marketer SOMO

A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), appointed a new chief for national oil marketer SOMO, the company said on Thursday.

Ali al-Shatari will become the director general of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), succeeding Khudhyer Abed, also taking over as Iraq's governor in OPEC, according to Reuters.

SOMO, which markets all Iraqi oil, is expected to begin handling oil output from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after the end of an almost two-year dispute with the government in Baghdad.