Saudi Aramco on Sunday confirmed reports that it is to acquire the 50% it does not already own in the Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery (Sasref) oil refinery joint venture (JV) with Shell for $631 million. The sale is expected to be completed later this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
“Saudi Aramco will take full ownership and integrate the refinery into its growing downstream portfolio,” said Abdulaziz al-Judaimi, Aramco’s senior vice president/downstream. Sasref will continue to be a critical facility in Aramco’s refining and chemicals business and the company plans to optimize its performance, he said. The Jubail, Saudi Arabia–based refinery has a capacity of 305,000 b/d. Its main products are liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, and sulfur.
For Shell, the sale is the second major exit from Saudi Arabia. Two years ago, Sabic, which itself is being acquired by Aramco, bought Shell out of Saudi Petrochemical Co. (Sadaf) for $820 million, terminating a long-term agreement with Shell that was due to expire in 2020. Sabic plans to fold Sadaf into its Arabian Petrochemical Co. (Petrokemya) subsidiary in the second half of this year with Petrokemya as the surviving entity.
For Aramco, the Sasref deal is another push downstream. The company bought Lanxess out of their Arlanxeo (Maastricht, Netherlands) synthetic rubber JV last year and it also bought Shell out of Motiva Enterprises in Texas. Aramco is, at the same time, acquiring more downstream assets around the world to beef up its portfolio.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has today announced the official opening of a new world-scale ABS[1] facility located in Ningbo, China, together with its joint venture partner SINOPEC. The facility has an annual nameplate capacity of 600,000 tonnes.
The merger of Röhm’s Acrylic Products business unit and SABIC’s Functional Forms business has resulted in the formation of Polyvantis. This new company will offer extruded products in the forms film, sheet, pipe and rod for markets that include building and construction, transportation and aviation, electrical and electronics, automotive and home and garden.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) is considering plans to acquire upstream oil and gas company Wintershall DEA, an affiliate of BASF SE, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter. A deal to acquire Wintershall DEA could be worth more than €10 billion, the report said. BASF and Adnoc declined to comment on the report.
