SIIG to revive Saudi cracker plan

17 May 2004 00:01  [Source: ACN]

SAUDI Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) is reviving plans for a cracker project in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. A company source told ACN that it had previously considered building a cracker, but the project could not proceed because of ethane unavailability.

‘However, Saudi Aramco recently informed us that there is ethane available to support a cracker,’ the source said. He added that SIIG was exploring its options. It was looking at building an ethane/propane cracker, due for start-up around 2009-10, the source added. Ethane in the kingdom costs 75 cents/mmbtu, but observers said Saudi Aramco had been keen to raise the price.

The source also stressed that SIIG would focus on its styrene project, a joint venture with Chevron Phillips Chemical (see box).

SIIG and Chevron Phillips are already producing 280 000 tonne/year of cyclohexane and 525 000 tonne/year of benzene in Al-Jubail. The benzene plant will be expanded to feed an ethylbenzene unit, which is part of the styrene project.

When asked whether SIIG would continue its relationship with Chevron Phillips in the cracker project, the source said the US major would be its preferred partner.

ACN reported in 2001 that Chevron Phillips was considering building a cracker in Al-Jubail (ACN 15 October 2001). ACN understands that Fluor Daniel and Chevron Phillips’ Houston office had started preliminary work on the project, but there has been no further news. Chevron Phillips is now building a cracker in a joint venture in Qatar (ACN 10 May 2004).

SIIG is believed to be the fourth local private company with C2 ambitions, following announcements made by three other firms (ACN 8 December 2003; 20 October 2003).

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