SAUDI ARABIA: Yasref’s Yanbu refinery inaugurated; Aramco, Sinopec initial new accord

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Chinese President Xi Jinping have jointly inaugurated Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co.’s (Yasref) new 400,000-b/d refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier reports said the refinery will produce diesel, gasoline, benzene, petroleum coke and pelletized sulfur, and could in the future include paraxylene and toluene.

In conjunction with the inauguration, Yasref partners Saudi Aramco and Sinopec signed a “Framework Agreement for Strategic Cooperation” to, among other things, “actively explore cooperation opportunities in key areas including oil and gas services, refining, chemicals, crude oil supply, sales, petroleum and petrochemical services, technology development and promotion, and new energy.

Source: Weekly “PetroChemical News”, Durham, NC, USA; 25 Jan 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)