13-05-2025
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.'
