DUBAI: Saudi Aramco has signed a deal with China’s Sinopec to expand a petrochemicals complex operated by their Yasref joint venture on the kingdom’s western coast, the Saudi state oil company said on Wednesday.
Aramco and Sinopec have partnered in several ventures as Saudi Arabia looks to expand its refining business, which can help to offset drops in crude oil prices.
An escalating trade war between the United States and China following U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs has raised fears in markets of global recession and sent international crude prices to their lowest in over four years.
Aramco said the partners aimed to build a mixed feed steam cracker with a capacity of 1.8 million metric tons per annum and an aromatics complex with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa.
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“The Yasref expansion project represents a significant milestone in our bilateral partnership, ushering in a new phase of deeper and more far-reaching collaboration,” Sinopec President Zhao Dong said in an Aramco statement.
The announcement coincides with the tenth anniversary of Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company, or Yasref, which is 62.5% owned by Aramco and 37.5% by Sinopec.
It already processes 400,000 barrels per day of Arabian heavy crude oil to produce transportation fuels and other refined products, according to its website.
Aramco has a long-term liquids-to-chemicals strategy to process up to 4 million barrels per day of its crude into petrochemicals by 2030.
In its annual report published last month, it said 53% of its upstream crude oil production was used in its downstream operations in 2024, up from 47% the previous year.
Other ventures with Sinopec include a refinery and petrochemical complex in southeast China’s Fujian province that Sinopec in November said it had started constructing with Aramco.
Aramco also holds a stake in the Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company, which is half-owned by a Sinopec joint venture, and Aramco chemicals subsidiary SABIC has an operational joint venture with Sinopec.
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