Saudi Aramco reaffirms firm support for South Korea Shaheen project, expected to start production next year

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, recently reaffirmed its continued support for the Shaheen project in South Korea. The project is promoted by the S-Oil company, with a total investment of 9.26 trillion won (about 6.5 billion US dollars), and is located in the Wenshan National Industrial Park in Ulsan City. According to S-Oil, Saudi Aramco's president of downstream operations, Mohamed Y. al-Kahtani, visited the construction site of the Shaheen project on Monday and expressed Saudi Aramco's high priority and firm commitment to the project.

Kahtani said during the inspection that the main purpose of his visit was to inspect the progress of the project on the spot before the peak construction period and to express Saudi Aramco's gratitude to the on-site staff. He stressed that the Shaheen project is not only the embodiment of Saudi Aramco's continuous investment in the petrochemical field, but also an important project with far-reaching significance for the future development of S-Oil companies and even the global petrochemical market. Kahtani expressed his appreciation for the professionalism and dedication of the field staff, and pointed out that their work is not only related to the growth of the S-Oil, but also contributes to the stability and development of the global petrochemical market.

During his visit, Qakhtani conducted a thorough and detailed on-site assessment of the Shaheen project, with particular attention to Saudi Aramco's world-first thermal crude oil to chemicals (TC2C) technology applied in the project. He also left his signature on a 118-meter-high propylene tower to pray for a safe and smooth construction of the project and an early success. As an experienced engineer, Kahtani is well aware of the complexity and challenges of such large-scale projects, and he highly appreciates the efforts and determination of the project team to achieve high-quality and on-time delivery.

Since the groundbreaking ceremony was held in March 2023, the construction of the Shaheen project has progressed rapidly. According to the latest data from S-Oil companies, as of Tuesday, the overall completion rate of the project has reached about 69%. It is expected to complete the mechanical completion in the first half of next year and officially put into full production in the second half of the year. By then, the plant will have a strong annual production capacity of 1.8 million tons of ethylene, 770000 tons of propylene, 200000 tons of butadiene and 280000 tons of benzene, which is expected to significantly enhance the competitiveness of the South Korea petrochemical industry.

facing challenges such as slowing global demand growth, large-scale facility expansion in China, and continued regional oversupply, the South Korea petrochemical industry is seeking new development opportunities. S-Oil said that the commissioning of the Shaheen project will provide it with cost-competitive and energy-efficient basic raw materials, which will be mainly supplied to domestic petrochemical downstream enterprises through pipelines. This will not only help reduce logistics costs in the value chain, but also promote the formation of a competitive petrochemical industry cluster, which will have a positive and far-reaching impact on revitalizing the local economy and strengthening the competitiveness of South Korea industries.