Admiral, a petrochemical plant project in Saudi Arabia, is the subject of a final investment decision by TotalEnergies and Aramco.
An ambitious project
Admiral will be located in the province of Ash-Sharqiya, in the city of Jubail, on the east coast of Saudi Arabia. The project will be integrated with the SATORP refinery. The refinery will operate the petrochemical complex developed by TotalEnergies and Aramco.
The Admiral petrochemical facility will allow SATORP to convert off-gases and naphtha produced in-house. In addition, the plant will also process ethane and gasoline supplied by Aramco into higher value chemicals. Thus, the site aims to advanceAramco ‘s strategy in the chemical sector.
The complex will include a mixed feed cracker capable of producing 1.65 million tons per year of ethylene. This is the first facility in the region integrated with a refinery. Admiral will also include two polyethylene units using Advanced Dual Loop technology.
The Admiral project alone represents an investment of approximately $11 billion. Aramco and TotalEnergies will finance $4 billion of it from their own funds. Construction of the site will begin in the first quarter of 2023 for commissioning in 2027.
An industrial complex
Eventually Admiral will supply feedstock to other petrochemical and specialty chemical plants in Jubail. As such, world-class downstream investors will build, own and operate these plants. Finally, development in the region will result in additional investments estimated at $4 billion.
This will support the development of key manufacturing industries such as carbon fiber. In addition, it will support the establishment of specialized industries in lubricants, drilling fluids and detergents. Finally, it will also develop the offer of car parts and tires.
The entire Admiral complex is expected to create 7,000 direct and indirect local jobs. In addition, in July 2022, SATORP was the first MENA refinery to achieve ISCC+ certification. This is an international recognition for its circular initiatives, such as recycling plastic and cooking oil.
In addition, the refinery was processing a first batch of recycled plastic in November 2022. Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said:
“We are delighted to write a new page in our joint history by launching this expansion project, which builds on the successful development of SATORP, our largest and most efficient refining and petrochemical platform in the world. It also deepens the exemplary relationship that our two companies have enjoyed for many decades in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This world-class complex is also in line with our strategy of sustainable development in petrochemicals by maximizing synergies across our core platforms.”
TotalEnergies and Aramco aim to extend the value chain by producing advanced chemicals more efficiently.
