Saudi Aramco will invest $90 billion in the next five years to increase refining capacity by 50 percent to 6 million barrels a day. Most of the capacity to be added to the five-year target will be at refineries in Asia, with the bulk of that in China, Al-Falih said. Moreover, the company has a $200 billion spending program which it plans to implement over the coming decade with a heavy focus on China and Indonesia, Oilprice.com reported. "The company plans to boost its global refining capacity to 8 million barrels a day in 10 years, including projects yet to be announced," Aramco's CEO Khalid Al-Falih was quoted as saying in mid-January. Aramco seeks to tap increasing consumption in China, Asia's biggest energy user, by forming joint ventures with local partners. According to Frost & Sullivan, a growth partnership company, Saudi Aramco's growth plans are clearly aligned with the diversification objectives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco, through its joint ventures such as PetroRabigh, Sadara Chemical Company and Satorp is introducing a whole new array of products which were not previously produced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). These chemicals not only add more value along the petrochemical chain, but also open investment opportunities in the downstream sector and ultimately create more job opportunities for the local people. Besides, Aramco is also exploring for unconventional gas, including shale and tight gas, in the country's northwestern region, he added. Low gas prices are a "challenge" to developing these hard-to-reach deposits, he said.
