Saudi Aramco Chemicals Output to Hit 34M Metric Tons by 2030

Saudi Arabian government-owned petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco plans to expand its production of chemicals by nearly threefold from 12 million mt per year to 34 million mt by 2030, the company’s business line head, Abdulaziz Judaimi, said in a keynote speech Monday at the 11^th annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Forum in Dubai.

The increase in chemicals output is part of the company’s pledge to investment $300 billion over the next decade. Judaimi said that the company will also boost its oil refining capacity from 5 million barrels per day at present to eight to ten before 2030.

“Altering the equation in this way calls for maximizing the value of Saudi Arabia’s hydrocarbon production, including vertical and horizontal integration across the value chain,” said Judaimi in the speech, according to a transcript provided by Aramco.

Thompson Reuters’ Zawya, covering Middle East business news, noted that the investment in boosting petrochemicals output is a component of the kingdom’s national Vision 2030 plan to reform the country’s economy and diversify operations from oil.

Judaimi told the audience that Saudi Arabia has some catching up to do in order to compete in the global chemicals industry: “When just two-and-a-half percent of the revenue is made here, and less than one percent of the industry’s workforce is employed here, that is neither good enough nor sustainable enough,” he said, according to an Aramco press release on the event.

The business line head said that with the “right strategies” in place, the country’s chemicals industry can quickly accelerate its efforts.

“Clearly, there will continue to be opportunities to invest in the large-scale integrated base petrochemicals projects, underpinned by advantaged feedstocks, which have defined the development of our region’s chemical industry,” said Judaimi.

Saudi Aramco also plans to invest in specialty chemicals and differentiated commodities. Recently Aramco formed a joint venture with The Dow Chemical Company and ARLANXEO, dubbed the Sadara Chemical Company.

Another major component of the company’s planned investments is the development and purchase of innovations and technologies that can “enhance processes and create new products and industries,” Aramco’s press release said.

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