SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Aramco plans to go ahead with three new refineries that may not all reach full capacity until 2013, a company official said today.

Aramco will add 400,000 barrel-a-day refineries in Ras Tanura, Yanbu and Jubail, taking Saudi Arabia's total refining capacity to 3.29 million barrels a day, Mahdi al-Adel, Senior Manufacturing and Planning Engineer at the existing Ras Tanura refinery, said at a conference in Abu Dhabi.

"Ras Tanura is expected on stream in December 2012,'' al-Adel said after the event, clarifying his presentation and correcting his earlier statement that the refinery may be delayed until as late as 2014. "It may take a month or two to reach full capacity, so we can comfortably say that Saudi Arabia's new capacity will all be on stream in 2013.''

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, is planning to raise refining capacity by 50% to provide fuel oil and gasoline for soaring local demand, and benefit from exporting high-value oil products.

WorleyParsons, which is carrying out the initial design and engineering for the additional capacity at Ras Tanura, said in a statement in November that the expansion would be operational in the first quarter of 2012. The expected cost of the project is US$8 billion, the statement said.

Total, which is a partner in the Jubail project, said earlier this month that the completion date for its refinery was 2012. ConocoPhillips is Aramco's partner for the Yanbu project. "These joint ventures are expected on stream before Ras Tanura's expansion,'' al-Adel clarified.

Saudi Arabia currently produces 2.09 million barrels a day of refined products, al-Adel said.

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

• Top news
• Business News
• Company News