Saudi Aramco has begun talks with prospective customers to sell paraxylene and benzene cargoes from its upcoming 400,000 b/d refinery in Jubail Industrial City in late 2013 or early 2014, sources close to the company said Monday.
"The company is talking to customers in Asia," a source said. Saudi Aramco is looking to sell 25,000-100,000 mt cargoes of paraxylene and benzene under long-term contracts.
Saudi Aramco and Total are building a refinery in Jubail Industrial City 2 to produce gasoline, low-sulfur diesel and naphtha. The project will also process heavy crude to produce 700,000 t/y of paraxylene, 140,000 mt/year of benzene and 200,000 mt/year of polymer grade propylene. "Aramco will have a claim over half of the output. The other half will be sold by Total," another source said.
Saudi Aramco and Total set up a joint company called Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemical Company, or Satorp, to build the refinery. While Aramco holds a 62.5% stake in the project, Total holds 37.5%.
An MOU for the project was signed in May 2006, and work on it began in August 2010. The refinery is expected to be commissioned in H1 2013, and commercial operations are expected in H2 2013.
Satorp had slashed the estimated cost of the project to less than $10 billion as the global financial crisis deepened in Q1 2010, but raised it to more than $12 billion in Q4 2010 citing higher engineering, procurement and construction costs and higher cost of financing.
"The company is talking to customers in Asia," a source said. Saudi Aramco is looking to sell 25,000-100,000 mt cargoes of paraxylene and benzene under long-term contracts.
Saudi Aramco and Total are building a refinery in Jubail Industrial City 2 to produce gasoline, low-sulfur diesel and naphtha. The project will also process heavy crude to produce 700,000 t/y of paraxylene, 140,000 mt/year of benzene and 200,000 mt/year of polymer grade propylene. "Aramco will have a claim over half of the output. The other half will be sold by Total," another source said.
Saudi Aramco and Total set up a joint company called Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemical Company, or Satorp, to build the refinery. While Aramco holds a 62.5% stake in the project, Total holds 37.5%.
An MOU for the project was signed in May 2006, and work on it began in August 2010. The refinery is expected to be commissioned in H1 2013, and commercial operations are expected in H2 2013.
Satorp had slashed the estimated cost of the project to less than $10 billion as the global financial crisis deepened in Q1 2010, but raised it to more than $12 billion in Q4 2010 citing higher engineering, procurement and construction costs and higher cost of financing.
