MOSCOW (MRC) -- Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih has been appointed minister of a newly created investment ministry, according to a royal decree, reported Chemweek with reference to the Saudi Press Agency's statement on Tuesday.
He takes on a key new portfolio as the country tries to attract more foreign investors. The new ministry replaces the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
Falih was removed last year from his posts as energy minister and Saudi Aramco chairman in the lead-up to Aramco’s initial public offering. Saudi Arabia's King Salman appointed his son Abdulaziz as energy minister in September to replace Falih, who had held the post since 2017.
Attracting investors to Saudi Arabia is a key part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s (MBS) economic transformation plan, which calls for the country’s diversification from a near total reliance on crude oil and building new industries. SAGIA has struggled in the last few years to attract investors.
Other royal orders created new ministries for tourism and sports and replaced the kingdom’s minister of media with Majid Al-Qasabi, on an acting basis. Al-Qasabi is a close adviser to MBS.
As MRC informed previously, in October 2019, McDermott International announced that it had been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco and Total Raffinage Chimie (Total) for their joint venture (JV) Amiral steam cracker project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Amiral is a JV in which Aramco holds 62.5% and Total the rest. The plant, designed to produce 1.5 million metric tons/year (MMt/y) of ethylene, will be one of the world's largest mixed-feed crackers.
Aramco and Total launched their USD5-billion Amiral JV project in October 2018. The steam cracker will be fed with a mixture of 50% ethane and refinery off-gases. It will supply ethylene to a downstream 1 MMt/y polyethylene manufacturing complex and other petrochemical products. The project aims to fully exploit operational synergies with the adjacent refinery, owned by Satorp, another JV between Aramco and Total. Third-party investors, including Daelim and Ineos, will locate plants at the value park adjacent to Amiral with a combined investment of USD4 billion. A final investment decision is expected in 2021.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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