Petro Rabigh to start up cracker mid-Feb

03 February 2009 09:52  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co (Petro Rabigh) is expected to start up its 1.25m tonne/year cracker around mid-February, said a source close to the company on Tuesday.

On-spec product at the facility in Rabigh located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia should be available shortly after the start up if all goes smoothly, he added, without providing dates.

The company is also slated to start up its derivative 600,000 tonne/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant at the same site as planned at the end of the month.

Petro Rabigh is a $10bn joint venture between state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemicals.

A total of 23 plants producing 18.4 m tonnes/year of petroleum-based products and 2.4 m tonnes/year of ethylene and propylene-based derivatives make up the project, which was originally scheduled to start commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2008. The start up of some units was pushed back to early 2009 due to technical issues.

Please visit the complete ICIS plants and projects database
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Peh Soo Hwee
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly