Saudi Aramco and SABIC reassess crude-oil-to-chemicals project

Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries have decided to re-evaluate their $20 billion crude-oil-to-chemicals project and are now looking at integrating existing facilities instead.

The decision comes as oil companies globally re-assess energy projects to conserve cash, with a collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic threatening to keep crude prices weak for a long time.

Aramco and petrochemical producer SABIC in 2017 signed a preliminary deal to build a $20 billion complex to convert crude oil to chemicals.

But in a statement on Sunday, SABIC said the two companies were now considering the integration of Aramco’s existing refineries in Yanbu with a mixed feed steam cracker and downstream olefin derivative units.