ConocoPhillips ‘Best Bid For Yanbu’
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Author: Trade Arabia - Reuters
Released 16 March 2006
Vienna: March 8, 2006 - US ConocoPhillips has put in the best bid so far to build a new oil export refinery at Yanbu on Saudi Arabia's west coast, Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said.
The estimated cost of the 400,000 barrels per day facility is about $4-$5 billion, the same value as a second refinery that Total is in pole position to build on the kingdom's east coast.
Saudi Aramco and Total said earlier this week they were in advanced talks over the new refinery at Jubail.
Final announcements for both contracts could come later this year, but Al Naimi cautioned that talks for these 'elaborate' contracts were ongoing and could take time.
Already well on its way is a $10 billion project between Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical for a giant oil refinery and petrochemcial project at Rabigh.
Al Naimi said the rising price for material had inflated costs by 70 per cent for Petrorabigh, which had an initial value of $4.5 billion.
The 50-50 joint venture to upgrade the existing Rabigh refinery on the Red Sea is due to start up in the second half of 2008.
Saudi Arabia's Haradh oilfield is set to boost the kingdom's production capacity by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 11.3 million bpd by April, Al Naimi said.
Haradh is not only on track, but ahead of schedule, and is set to pump 300,000 bpd of Arab Light crude by April from the southern end of the giant Ghawar oilfield.