MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco has hired Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) and Riyad Bank to advise it on financing Amiral, a petrochemical project it plans to develop with France’s Total, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with the matter.
The Saudi state-owned oil producer approached banks for the financing of the project, which is expected to be around USD5 billion, late last year, sources told Reuters at the time.
Total declined to comment. Aramco, Riyad Bank and SMBC did not respond to requests for immediate comment.
Aramco, the world’s largest crude producer, plans to boost investment in refining and petrochemicals in a bid to cut reliance on crude as demand for oil slows.
Plans for the giant Amiral petrochemical complex in the Saudi city of Jubail were announced in April 2018.
The project - scheduled to start up in 2024 - will be located next to the Satorp refinery, which is also jointly owned and operated by Aramco and Total.
The companies said last year the facility would comprise a mixed-feed cracker with a capacity to produce 1.5 million tonnes a year of ethylene. It will also have other units producing high-value petrochemicals.
As MRC informed earlier, in October 2018, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement to invest in a refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China, part of its strategy to expand in downstream operations globally. The memorandum of understanding between the company and Zhejiang province included plans to invest in a new refinery and co-operate in crude oil supply, storage and trading, according to details released by the Zhoushan government after a signing ceremony in the city south of Shanghai.
Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
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