New petrochem hub planned at Rabigh to boost Saudi petrochem base

The Middle East region is building up its strength in the petrochemical sector to take advantage of the availability of cheaper feedstocks and its proximity to the Asian petrochem demand hub. The Gulf region will continue to consolidate it's position in the next few years to become leading sources in the petrochemical industry worldwide. Saudi Aramco along with a group of Japanese companies has plans of a development project for Rabigh Refinery, using the latest in refining technologies and refinery processes. Along with this, initial steps are being taken for the establishment of a state of the art industrial estate to house Saudi Arabian petrochemical industry, at an investment outlay of US$25 billion (SR 90 billion). Currently feasibility studies are being conducted for the project.