Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire a 9% stake in Zhejiang Petrochemical’s integrated refinery and petroleum distillates complex in Zhoushan, China.
The agreement was signed during Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to China. It formalises a previously announced acquisition plan.
The company also signed two additional MoUs, one with Zhejiang Energy and the other with Rongsheng Petrochemical, Juhua Group, Tongkun Group and Zhejiang Petrochemical shareholders.
“The agreements demonstrate our commitment to the Chinese market and help enhance the strategic integration of our downstream network in Asia.”
The new agreements will help Saudi Aramco support its downstream presence in the Zhejiang province.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said: “The agreements demonstrate our commitment to the Chinese market and help enhance the strategic integration of our downstream network in Asia.
“They will further strengthen our relationship with China and the Zhejiang province, setting the stage for more cooperation in the future.”
Private chemical group Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group controls Zhejiang Petrochemical. The company is currently building an 800,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity refinery and petrochemical complex in the province.
Phase I will feature a 400,000bpd capacity refinery with a 1.4mmtpa ethylene cracker unit and a 5.2mmtpa aromatics unit.
In the second phase, the capabilities of the refinery will be increased and the facility will achieve deeper levels of chemical integration.
Last month, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with Axens and TechnipFMC to develop its catalytic crude-to-chemicals (CC2C) technology.
Source: Chemicals Technology
The future CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde, Nadja Håkansson, has held various management positions at Siemens and Siemens Energy and looks back on over 18 years of national and international experience in the areas of supply chain management, operations, sales and corporate management.
Neste and South Korean company Lotte Chemical have partnered on a project to elevate the sustainability profile of chemicals and plastics. The partnership’s ambition is to replace fossil resources with renewable raw materials that offer a lower carbon footprint.
At least the confidence in the chemical sector has been seeing an upward trend and the trade balance is recovering as destocking seems to be coming to an end. Citing projections from the European Central Bank, CEFIC states that the level of inflation is expected to fall from 5.4% in 2023 to 2.3% in 2024.
