Investment projects drive Middle East's petrochemical production capacity
26 August 2009
Saudi Arabia has taken an important step in consolidating its position as one of the biggest players in the global petrochemical industry, with a bold move to invest over SAR 172.5 billion to build three of the largest and most ambitious petrochemical projects in the world.
The projects, which collectively involve more than 150,000 engineers and technicians working around the clock, will enable Saudi Arabia to produce a wider variety of polymers and bi-products, considerably expanding the country's portfolio of petrochemical offerings and substantially increasing its global market base.
One of the projects, the Ras Tanura Integrated Project (RTIP), is a massive SAR 101.25 billion venture that will build the largest petrochemical facility of its kind in the world, producing 11 million tonnes per annum of various petrochemical and chemical products. Around SAR 33.75 billion is also being invested to build the world’s largest integrated petrochemicals facility in Jubail Industrial City, with a capacity of six million tonnes per annum, while the SAR 37.5 billion Petro Rabigh Refinery Upgrade project will enable the facility to increase its production capacity to 2.4 million metric tonnes, making it one of the world’s largest integrated oil refining and petrochemical facilities.