Saudi Arabia and China have launched a joint venture for an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex for fine chemicals and raw materials under the multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
According to the Chinese daily Global Times, the $12.2 billion project between China and Saudi Arabia, which has been dubbed as the Green and Low-Carbon Initiative, was launched in the city of Panjin in northeastern Liaoning province.
Saudi Arabia’s state petroleum company Aramco said in a statement that the project’s foundation stone ceremony took place on Wednesday.
It said Aramco would hold a 30% stake while Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group would hold 51% and 19%, respectively.
The complex is “expected to be fully operational by 2026,” said Aramco, which “is expected to supply up to 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude feedstock to the facility.”
A senior Aramco official Mohd Y. Al Qahtani said: “This complex is a cornerstone of our efforts to support a world-class, integrated downstream sector in China, as petrochemicals will play a key role in our joint success.”
Once completed, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO) “will be a model going forward for China’s modern petrochemical industry, capable of delivering low-carbon products, chemicals and advanced materials,” he said of the ground- Addressed the breaking ceremony.
“Panjin has built a 100,000-ton-wide deep-water channel, a 300,000-ton crude oil wharf and a sewage treatment plant with a treatment capacity of 60,000 tons per day to support the project,” the Chinese daily said.
