Petrochemical Integration Called a Key to Growth
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- Saudi Aramco News
- Dhahran Media
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Author: Saudi aramco News
Released 2 January 2008
DHAHRAN, January 02, 2008 -- Saudi Arabia is rapidly changing. With one of the world’s highest rates of population growth and more than 54 percent under the age of 30, there is a need to provide for future generations. Through its refining and petrochemical initiatives, Saudi Aramco is one step closer to meeting that need.
It was on that note that Abdulaziz M. Judaimi, vice president of New Business Development, opened the Dec. 15 Dhahran Geoscience Society meeting. His speech, “Investing in Generations: Opportunities in Downstream Petrochemicals and Refining,” made the case for integrating refineries with petrochemicals.
DGS president Ahmed M. Al-Otaibi, left, thanks Abdulaziz M. Judaimi after Judaimi addressed the Dhahran Geoscience Society.
Saudi Aramco’s challenge of supplying the Kingdom’s growing demand for refinery fuels could be met by building more world-scale refineries, he said.
That would contribute to the Kingdom’s GDP, but would do little to provide new jobs, diversify the economy or stabilize refining profitability, he said.
On the other hand, integrating those refineries with petrochemical complexes, and developing industrial clusters, would. It also would increase the Kingdom’s GDP impact, generating even more jobs.
Judaimi explained further: A single world-scale complex refinery typically would generate about 2,000 jobs, but a refinery that is integrated to a basic petrochemical complex, with potential to integrate further, would generate more high-skilled jobs.
“We must approach our business with the proper balance of analysis and action, of preparation and implementation, of caution and speed,” Judaimi said. “It’s a bit like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. It starts with crude oil and refining, and then to create higher value, we extend into petrochemicals to enable the secondary and tertiary industries to be formed.”
Keeping this puzzle together requires a strong foundation in education, one that is formed through working with universities in their vocational strategies. That ensures that future generations are not only prepared to lead but also to succeed.
Saudi Aramco’s efforts to meet the Kingdom’s fuel demands are ideal opportunities for human and economic development, Judaimi continued. The capital programs for existing refineries are part of these efforts, including a Ras Tanura Refinery crude oil expansion and the Fuels Quality Specification Road Map. The company is also constructing two state-of-the-art 400,000-barrel-per-day deep-conversion refineries in Yanbu‘ and Jubail, with partners Conoco-Phillips and Total, and integrating Rabigh and Ras Tanura refineries with petrochemical and industrial parks to provide raw materials for the downstream industries with partners Sumitomo and Dow.
Judaimi said that while these steps will support future generations, they are not the whole solution. Only if all areas of development in the Kingdom work together to maximize local content, increase services, and support education and training, can we reach sustainability, he said.