Petro Rabigh looks to complete cracker expansion by next year: ICIS

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. (Petro Rabigh) is expected to complete the expansion of its 1.3 million tonne per year ethane cracker in Saudi Arabia by next year, ICIS reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to the company.

With the completion of the project, the ethylene capacity of the cracker is likely to go up by 300,000 tonnes per year to 1.6 million tonnes per year, the source told ICIS on the sidelines of the 10th annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) forum in Dubai.

In this second phase of expansion, the company also expects to start the new derivative units, the report said.

Among the downstream facilities that will come on stream are a 160,000 tonne/year linear density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate (LDPE/EVA) swing unit and a phenol-acetone plant in the third quarter of 2016.

Petro Rabigh, a joint venture between Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco), is also looking to start production at its para-xylene unit.

Earlier, Sumitomo Chemical's executive chairman had said that the second phase was expansion was expected to be complete by 2016, the report added.