Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Exxon-Mobil Chemical announced recently that they have begun work on a feasibility study to define a potential project that would grow their two joint petrochemical ventures at Yanbu and Jubail.

The project would target domestic supply of carbon black and rubber and thermoplastic specialty polymers (EPDM, TPO, Butyl, SBR/PBR) to serve emerging local and international markets. Expected project start-up is 2011.

The project would utilize feedstocks allocated by the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and additional feedstocks from other sources in the Kingdom that will be processed at Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Company (YANPET) in Yanbu and Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (KEMYA) in Jubail.

SABIC is one of the world’s 10 largest petrochemicals manufacturers and among the world’s market leaders in the production of Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Glycols, Methanol, MTBE and Fertilizers as well as the fourth largest Polyolefins producer. It is also the largest steel manufacturing company in the Middle East and North Africa. It operates globally and is committed to providing outstanding quality and customer care.

Exxon-Mobil-Chemical is a global leader in technology, product quality and customer service with petrochemical manufacturing and/or marketing operations in more than 150 countries around the world. Its products include Olefins, Aromatics, Fluids, Synthetic Rubber, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Oriented Polypropylene packaging films, Plasticizers, synthetic lubricant basestocks and additives for fuels and lubricants.