Petro Rabigh commissions 10 units of Rabigh phase II project in KSA

09/01/2018 17:40 AST

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) said that ten out of 12 units of its $7bn Rabigh phase II petrochemical expansion project in Saudi Arabia have entered into production.

Petro Rabigh, which is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, said that the other two units of the petrochemical project will start operations during the first quarter of this year.

"Upon completion of all Phase II plants, both phases I and II will be combined operationally within the Petro Rabigh industrial complex.

"By the end of December 2017, the company achieved on-spec production at the units for Cumene, Phenol, Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)/Isobutylene, Metathesis, Methyl Methacrylate (MMA), Naphtha Reformer, Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Low Density Polyethylene/ (LDPE), Thermo Plastic Olefin (TPO) and Nylon 6 (Polyamide 6)," the company said in a statement.

The units, which are due to begin operations, are the Aromatics and EPR (Ethylene Propylene Rubber) plants. Petro Rabigh disclosed that financial impact of the two plants will be part of its financial results for the first quarter of 2018.

The Rabigh (Phase II) Project had seen the expansion of Petro Rabigh's existing 3,000-acre refinery at Rabigh, nearly 150km north of Jiddah located to facilitate production of a new variety of high-value petrochemical products in Saudi Arabia.

The original refinery, Rabigh I Project located on Red Sea coast, has a yearly production capacity of 17 million tons of refined products and 2.4 million tons of petrochemical products.

Rabigh I was commissioned in 2009 and it was around this time that Saudi Aramco, Sumitomo Chemical and Petro Rabigh agreed to develop the Rabigh Phase II Project.

Oilfield services provider Petrofac had been given two engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the project in 2012.

Energy Business Review