Sinopec Corp and Saudi Aramco have begun building a refinery and petrochemical complex in China's Fujian province.
The complex, costing around $9.8 billion (€9.2 billion), also marks Saudi Aramco's second major refining and petrochemical joint venture with a Chinese state oil major.
The new venture, located in Gulei industrial park of Zhangzhou city, includes a 16 million metric ton-per-year (tpy), or 320,000 barrels per day, refinery, a 1.5 million tpy ethylene plant, a 2 million paraxylene facility as well as a 300,000 tonnage crude oil terminal, Sinopec said in a statement.
For Aramco, it is another step towards growing its downstream business outside the kingdom and is part of a plan to supply a million bpd of crude oil to China for oil-to-chemicals investments, Aramco's downstream president Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani was cited as saying.
Fujian Petrochemical - a joint venture between Sinopec and the Fujian government - will hold a 50% stake in the venture, and Saudi Aramco and Sinopec will each own 25%, Sinopec said.
The project is slated to become operational in 2030, and once in production, it will be able to supply 5 million tons of petrochemical feedstock annually.
Sinopec and Aramco signed a preliminary agreement to build the complex two years ago.
Sinopec and Aramco sign petrochemical deal
