Saudi Arabia has seventeen petrochemical projects

The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Al Naimi has said that Saudi Arabia holds 17 gigantic petrochemical projects with a capital investment of more than SR 20 bn. He expressed hope that the new gas projects would stimulate economic development and create job opportunities for Saudis.
"The projects would open the horizon of job opportunities before the Saudi young men. As many as 35,000 job opportunities will arise once the projects move into the production phase at the end of the exploration phase," he said.

He was speaking after signing of a landmark gas exploration deal, worth SR 3 bn in the first phase, with international oil giants for upstream gas exploration and production in the northern Rub Al-Khali (Empty Quarter).
According to Ali Al Naimi, the new projects would provide 35,000 direct job opportunities and 140,000 indirect ones for the Saudi youth. This will also open doors for several investment opportunities for Saudi businessmen through extending support services for the oil giants at the investment sites.

The minister said that Saudi Arabia is expecting good results of these projects before offering new projects for gas exploration and production in other regions of the Kingdom.
"The whole quantities of gas produced through these projects will be used for local consumption in the petrochemical industries as well as in the production of electricity and in desalination plants. Our first priority is to satisfy the local demand before looking for export opportunities if additional capacity is available," Al Naimi said.

The minister expressed satisfaction over the participation of leading companies from a number of countries in the Kingdom’s gas sector. He said that this will provide the Kingdom an opportunity to take advantage of the expertise and technology of these countries beside making use of these sources of revenue.
Asked about the exclusion of American firms from the contracts, the minister said they were "already present in the Kingdom andare among the biggest investors." He said the contracts were awarded on the basis of competitive bids and the experience and expertise of the winning firms. There were no other criteria, he added. There was an American company among the bidders for the project, but it was unsuccessful in winning the deal, he said.

The companies which won the gas deal are LUKoil of Russia, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), a consortium comprising ENI (Italy) and Repsol-YPF of Spain. Exploration alone would need SR 3 bn in investments from the four international partners.
Under the agreement, which is of ten-year duration for the first phase, the companies will carry out exploration of non-associated gas in areas designated A, B and C. Saudi Aramco will be a partner in the three ventures holding 20 % of the stakes in each of the three projects. Ali Al Naimi said that cooperation in the gas sector will help forge ties with these countries in other areas also.
"We have strong relations with Russia. We have hadexcellent cooperation in managing the stability of the oil market," he said.

The minister also disclosed that an agreement between Saudi Aramco and Chinese company Sinopec is expected to be concluded in the near future.
"Efforts are under way to provide the Chinese market with petroleum products through investment in joint venture refineries," he pointed out.
Replying to a question regarding Saudi Arabia’s participation in the project was confined to Saudi Aramco, the minister said that the company enjoys 70 year experience and expertise in the oil and gas exploration and production sector.

Meanwhile, Vittorio Mincato, CEO of ENI, said he was impressed by Saudi Aramco’s "first-class technical capabilities, their huge resources, their professionalism, and their highly qualified staff."
While referring to the future projects, the minister said that there are several regions in the Central, North and Western parts of the country where new investment projects would be launched in future. The international companies will be able to take advantage of Saudi Aramco’s facilities while implementing gas exploration and production projects, he added. The Kingdom currently produces 7 bn cfpd of gas through its five gas plants at Hawiyah, Haradh, Shedgum, Berri and Uthmaniyah.