Sultan Al-Sughair Saudi Gazette JUBAIL – Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (Satorp) expects its new refinery at Jubail Industrial City to be fully operational in December 2013, the joint venture's chief executive said. Saudi Aramco and France's Total are building the SR52.5 billion Jubail facility as part of a push by the world's top oil exporter to almost double its refining capacity. “Overall engineering, procurement and construction work at the refinery is 68 percent complete," Fawwaz Nawwab, CEO of Satorp, told reporters in Riyadh. Nawwab said that although the refinery was designed to process 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), Saudi Aramco had committed to supply it with up to 440,000 bpd. Jubail will refine Saudi heavy crude into a range of fuels - from gasoline to petroleum coke - for domestic consumption and export. The joint venture is set to issue up to SR3.75 billion ($1 billion) in Islamic bonds to help pay for it.
