Motiva considers ethylene, aromatics projects in US

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Motiva Enterprises signed $8bn-10bn worth of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering process technologies for possible ethylene and aromatics units in the US, the subsidiary of Saudi Aramco said on Saturday.

Motiva could make a final investment decision in 2019, the company said.

One of the memoranda will evaluate using TechnipFMC’s mixed-feed ethylene production technologies in the US, Motiva said. Another will evaluate using Honeywell UOP’s aromatics extraction and production technologies for benzene and paraxylene (PX), which Motiva may use to develop a possible complex on the US Gulf Coast.

Motiva did not name which specific technologies it is evaluating.

The memoranda mark the first steps of Motiva’s expansion into petrochemicals, the company said.

Motiva owns a 600,000 bbl/day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, the largest in North America.

The company announced the memoranda during a visit in Houston by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.