Total, Aramco to Build $9b Petrochem Complex

France’s oil major Total and Saudi Aramco signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding to build a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which will see total investments of $9 billion by the two companies and third-party investors. The agreement was signed during the official visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to France, Oil Price reported. Total and Aramco agreed to start front-end engineering and design for the petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia in the third quarter of 2018. The complex will be integrated downstream of the 440,000-bpd SATORP refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Total, to take advantage of operational synergies. The petrochemical complex will feature a mixed-feed steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units. The parties will invest around $5 billion in this project, while another $4 billion invested by third-party investors will come from other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants that the cracker will feed.