Aramco Reaffirms Support to Shaheen Project in Korea

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company and majority shareholder for S-Oil in Korea, on Tuesday visited the oil refiner’s Shaheen project construction site at Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulsan in South Korea to show support for the $6.5 billion project aimed at building a petrochemical complex in the South eastern port city.

According to S-Oil, Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, Aramco’s president of downstream operations, who visited the site a day earlier to encourage workers, pledged Saudi oil and gas giant’s continued support for the project’s success.

Al-Qahtani, who also serves as an S-Oil board member, was accompanied by S-Oil CEO Anwar Al-Hejazi and Aramco Asia Korea acting CEO Khalid Radi as they inspected the site, which reached a 69.1% completion rate as of Tuesday.

In March 2023, when the ground breaking ceremony for the project took place, Al-Qahtani also visited a neighbouring S-Oil plant, demonstrating his strong commitment to the investment.

On Tuesday, Al Qahtani examined the thermal crude-to-chemicals facility, steam cracker and polymer plant. He also signed the recently installed 118-meter-high propylene tower, wishing for safe construction and the project’s success.

Workers Lauded

“I came to Korea to visit the project site before its construction peaks and show Aramco’s appreciation to you and your work. As an engineer who has been involved in many large-scale projects, I know first-hand how much effort goes into such a major undertaking and I recognise your sense of purpose to deliver the project on time with the highest quality,” Al-Qahtani said.

Describing the project as a testament to Aramco’s commitment to petrochemicals, he said that the work inspires not just S-Oil’s future growth but also advancement in the global petrochemical market.

Officials of the S-Oil said that the Shaheen project will enhance the competitiveness of Korea’s petrochemical industry, which is facing challenges due to global demand growth slowdown, large-scale facility expansions in China and continued oversupply in the region.

When the Shaheen project’s full-scale production takes effect in the second half of next year, the plant is expected to have annual production capacities of 1.8 million tons of ethylene, 770,000 tons of propylene, 200,000 tons of butadiene and 280,000 tons of benzene.

“We plan to supply basic feedstocks produced at the Shaheen project facilities, which have excellent cost competitiveness and high energy efficiency, mainly through pipelines to domestic petrochemical downstream companies,” an S-Oil official said.

“By reliably supplying raw materials on time to downstream companies, we expect to not only save on logistics costs within the value chain but also create a competitive petrochemical industrial cluster, thereby leaving a positive impact in terms of revitalising the local economy and strengthening Korea’s industrial competitiveness,” he added.