Saudi Aramco reaffirms commitment to Korea's Shaheen project
Downstream chief visits Ulsan site, praises progress on $6.5b project
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, has pledged continued support for the successful completion of the 9.26 trillion won ($6.5 billion) Shaheen project in Korea, S-Oil said Tuesday.
According to S-Oil, Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, Downstream President at Saudi Aramco, which holds a majority stake in S-Oil, visited the construction site of the Shaheen project at the Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulsan on the previous day.
'I came to Korea mainly to visit the project site before construction work peaks, and to show Aramco's appreciation to you and your work,' said Al-Qahtani, as he looked around the area.
'The Shaheen Project is a testament to Aramco's continuing commitment to petrochemicals. I find your work so inspiring not just for S-Oil's future growth, but for the global petrochemical market as a whole.'
The Saudi Aramco executive underwent a thorough on-site review of Korea's largest petrochemical investment project including the thermal-crude-to-chemicals, or TC2C, which is Saudi Aramco's first application of the new technology in the world, and left his signature on the recently installed 118-meter-high propylene tower to wish for safe construction and the success of the project.
'As an engineer who has been involved in many large-scale projects, I know firsthand how much effort goes into such a major undertaking, and I recognize your sense of purpose: to deliver the Project on time with the highest quality,' said Al-Qahtani.
After holding the ground-breaking ceremony in March 2023, the Shaheen project's construction progress stood at about 69 percent as of Tuesday, according to S-Oil. The project is expected to be mechanically completed in the first half of next year.
S-Oil pointed out that the Shaheen project will enhance the competitiveness of Korea's petrochemical industry, which is facing challenges due to global demand growth slowdown, large-scale facility expansions in China and continued oversupply in the region.
When the Shaheen project's full-scale production takes effect in the second half of next year, the plant is expected to have annual production capacities of 1.8 million tons of ethylene, 770,000 tons of propylene, 200,000 tons of butadiene and 280,000 tons of benzene.
"We plan to supply basic feedstock produced at the Shaheen Project, which has excellent cost competitiveness and high energy efficiency, mainly through pipelines to domestic petrochemical downstream companies," said an S-Oil official.
"By reliably supplying raw materials on time to downstream companies, we expect to not only save logistics cost within the value chain but also create a competitive petrochemical industrial cluster, thereby leaving a positive impact in terms of revitalizing the local economy and strengthening Korea's industrial competitiveness.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
5 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul shares open tad lower on profit taking
South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Tuesday as investors moved to cash in gains after Seoul shares spiked to an 11-month high the previous day, with their eyes on the ongoing trade talks between the United States and China. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 2.4 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,853.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street was little changed as investors were waiting for the outcome of the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed nearly flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.31 percent. Officials from Washington and Beijing met in London on Monday for talks on various trade issues, including tariffs, and plan to continue their negotiations Tuesday. In Seoul, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics went down 1 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix dropped 0.44 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor shrank 0.35 percent, while its sister Kia dipped 0.94 percent. Leading internet portal operator Naver slipped 0.5 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, fell 2.53 percent. On the other hand, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 0.7 percent, and major defense firm Hanwha Aerospace climbed 1.48 percent. Shipbuilders started bullish, with HD Hyundai Heavy adding 0.96 percent, while Hanwha Ocean surged 1.72 percent and HD Korea Shipbuilding spiked 3.11 percent. Nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility also went up 1.26 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,354.8 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 1.6 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea-China-Japan cooperation crucial as ‘buffer' as Trump 2.0 roils Asia
APEC summit will serve as springboard for bolstering trilateral coordination, observers say Trilateral cooperation among South Korea, China and Japan has become more essential than ever as a buffer in Northeast Asia fraught with mounting volatility and uncertainty under US President Trump's second term, former high-ranking officials and experts said. Observers from the three countries held the view that Northeast Asia has become the central battleground in the intensifying great-power rivalry between the US and China during a forum hosted by the North-East Asia Research Foundation, a Seoul-based think tank, on Monday. Chung Duck-koo, former minister of trade, industry and energy, underscored that 'further strengthening trilateral relations among South Korea, China and Japan would be highly beneficial,' as Northeast Asia sits at the fault line between the North Korea–China–Russia bloc and South Korea–US–Japan cooperation. 'As a group that intersects both triangular frameworks, our cooperation could serve as a bridge for promoting shared prosperity and safety,' Chung, who serves as the founder and incumbent chair of the NEAR Foundation, said in his opening speech during the forum "The Trump 2.0 Era and its Implications on Northeast Asia." "Such efforts could help ease or neutralize tensions and mitigate sources of conflict in the region." Kim Sung-han, a former national security adviser in the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, underscored that "the geopolitical confrontation between North Korea–China–Russia alignment and the ROK–US–Japan partnership is likely to intensify further." The ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea. Kim elucidated that the US has been doubling down on its strategic pivot to the Indo-Pacific region from Europe, setting the termination of the war in Ukraine in sight, while curtailing its military engagement in the Middle East. At the same time, China is expected to bolster its strategic partnership with Russia while reinvigorating ties with North Korea. 'In this context, trilateral cooperation among ROK, China and Japan becomes increasingly important to help ease regional tensions and prevent further polarization,' commented Kim, who currently serves as a professor of the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University. Kim further explained, 'Trump 2.0's foreign policy is likely to push the Northeast Asian order toward a binary confrontation, which could weaken the strategic foundation for trilateral cooperation among ROK, China and Japan." 'Paradoxically, however, in the face of rising tensions, pragmatic and interest-based cooperation among those three countries may become even more necessary,' Kim said. 'As a result, Korea-China-Japan trilateral cooperation could serve as a 'diplomatic shock absorber' that helps ease geopolitical tensions and maintain regional equilibrium.' In his keynote address, Yun Byung-se, former foreign minister under the Park Geun-hye administration, said, 'Dialogue, exchanges and cooperation among South Korea, China and Japan are extremely valuable assets, amid the seismic geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts.' Observers also concurred that the North Korean nuclear challenge underscored the need for tighter Korea-China-Japan cooperation. Yun pointed out that 'North Korea will negotiate from its most advantageous strategic position since the Korean War' if a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un materializes. 'Depending on the result, another shock may come to the landscape of Northeast Asia,' Yun said. 'Prior coordination between South Korea and the US, and among South Korea, the US and Japan, as well as close consultation with China, will be necessary.' Voicing similar views, Hitoshi Tanaka, former deputy foreign minister in Japan, also underscored that 'especially on pressing issues such as North Korea's nuclear program, close trilateral coordination is imperative.' Observers said this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit — set for late October to early November in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province — will provide a valuable venue to advance trilateral cooperation. 'We understand China's sensitivity regarding Taiwan,' Tanaka said. 'However, just as APEC clearly separates political and security matters, including Taiwan in such frameworks should be considered to demonstrate that economic cooperation can transcend political divides.' The APEC summit will invite leaders from 21 countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Taiwan. 'We hope that the leaders of our three countries — South Korea, China and Japan — will also take advantage of this opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue,' Chung of the NEAR Foundation said. 'Regardless of the challenges that may arise, South Korea, China and Japan should aim to be in the same boat and remain committed to discussing any issue in depth. In this regard, we must not make the mistake of allowing the past to hinder the future,' Chung added.
Korea Herald
25-05-2025
- Korea Herald
Iran-US talks made 'some but not conclusive progress,' mediator Oman says
ROME (AP) — Iran and the United States made 'some but not conclusive progress' Friday in a fifth round of negotiations in Rome over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, the talks' Omani mediator said. The remarks by Badr al-Busaidi suggested the negotiations between the two longtime enemies would continue even as the talks run up against their toughest challenge: Trying to find middle ground between American demands that Iran stop enriching uranium while Tehran insists its program must continue. 'The fifth round of Iran US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress,' al-Busaidi wrote on X. 'We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honourable agreement.' Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after the talks told Iranian state television that al-Busaidi presented ideas that will be conveyed to the two nations' capitals 'without creating any commitments for either side." "These negotiations are too complex to be resolved in just two or three meetings,' he said. 'I am hopeful that in the next one or two rounds — especially given the better understanding of the Islamic Republic's positions — we can reach solutions that allow the talks to progress.' He added, 'We are not there yet, but we are not discouraged either." The US was again represented in the talks by Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Michael Anton, the State Department's policy planning director, at the negotiations in the Omani Embassy in Rome's Camilluccia neighborhood. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said the direct and indirect negotiations 'continue to be constructive.' 'The talks continue to be constructive — we made further progress, but there is still work to be done,' the official said. The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. 'Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so,' a new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency said. 'These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week.' However, it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say. Enrichment remains the key point of contention. Witkoff at one point suggested Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67 percent, then later began saying all Iranian enrichment must stop. That position on the American side has hardened over time. Asked about the negotiations, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said 'we believe that we are going to succeed' in the talks and on Washington's push for no enrichment. 'The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday. One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment in the Islamic Republic but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the US. There also are multiple countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry has maintained enrichment must continue within the country's borders and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Araghchi warned Thursday that Iran would take 'special measures' to defend its nuclear facilities if Israel continues to threaten them, while also warning the US it would view it as being complicit in any Israeli attack. Authorities allowed a group of Iranian students to form a human chain Thursday at its underground enrichment site at Fordo , an area with incredibly tight security built into a mountain to defend against possible airstrikes. Yet despite the tough talk from Iran, the Islamic Republic needs a deal. Its internal politics are inflamed over the mandatory hijab, or headscarf, with women still ignoring the law on the streets of Tehran. Rumors also persist over the government potentially increasing the cost of subsidized gasoline in the country, which has sparked nationwide protests in the past. Iran's rial currency plunged to over 1 million to a US dollar in April. The currency has improved with the talks, however, something Tehran hopes will continue as a further collapse in the rial could spark further economic unrest. Meanwhile, its self-described 'Axis of Resistance' sits in tatters after Iran's regional allies in the region have faced repeated attacks by Israel during its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government during a rebel advance in December also stripped Iran of a key ally. The Trump administration also has continued to levy new sanctions on Iran, including this week, which saw the US specifically target any sale of sodium perchlorate to the Islamic Republic. Iran reportedly received that chemical in shipments from China at its Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas. A major, unexplained explosion there killed dozens and wounded over 1,000 others in April during one round of the talks.
