French ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Bertrand Besancenot (left), with Waleed Y. Zahid, CEO of Zahid Group Holding, Nizar Raydan, Managing Director of Saudi Total Lubricants Co., with other diginitaries and executives during the inaugural of the facility in KAEC. Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – After six years of successful operations in the Kingdom, Saudi Total Lubricants Co. (SATLUB) inaugurated on Wednesday its own state-of-the-art blending plant in the Industrial Valley in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), located 120 km north of Jeddah.
The 65,000 square meter facility will produce automotive and industrial lubricants that meet Total's stringent global quality tests. Equipped with a fully automated blending system and ultra modern filling machines, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 25,000 metric tons in a single shift. “This is a major step toward improving the company's efficiency so that we can be the first choice in the Saudi market. With the establishment of this plant, the company aims to enhance its opportunities for growth in Saudi Arabia. The decision to establish this plant was based on a thorough study of the growing lubricants market in KSA, which is propelled by one of the fastest-growing and most stable economies in the world,” said Momar Nguer, Senior Vice President of Africa/Middle East, Total Marketing & Services, on the occasion of the inauguration. Waleed Y. Zahid, CEO of Zahid Group Holding, explained that “the opening of the plant is another milestone that demonstrates the synergies between Zahid Group and Total. Both partners are committed to providing local customers with superior products and services, while creating more job opportunities for qualified Saudis.” Nizar Raydan, Managing Director of Saudi Total Lubricants Co., added “the decision to invest at KAEC was governed by a variety of reasons. The first of these is direct access to a huge seaport that has immense potential. The second is that KAEC has a highly developed basic infrastructure and very advanced utilities. Therefore, we decided to make KAEC one of our main supply lines in the region.” Fahd Al-Rasheed, MD and CEO of King Abdullah Economic City, congratulated Total on the opening of the blending plant, saying: “Today is a proud moment for us. Total started its journey with KAEC way back in 2008 and we are delighted to share in celebrating today's plant inauguration with the many friends we have made through our close cooperation with Total during the past five years.” Al-Rasheed went on to say: “KAEC is committed to providing investors with full support and assistance in getting their projects established and operational, and very soon Total will be joined by many other organizations that have chosen KAEC's Industrial Valley due to its world class facilities and unique location that makes KAEC a global logistical hub.” Total is a leading international oil and gas company with operations in more than 130 countries. It is also a world-class chemical producer. Its 97,000 employees put their expertise to work in every part of these industries — exploration and production of oil and natural gas, refining and marketing, gas and power, trading, and chemicals — to keep the world supplied with energy, both today and tomorrow. www.total.com The Group entered the downstream sector in the Kingdom in 2007 by partnering with Zahid Holding Group to form SATLUB joint venture, responsible for the manufacture and marketing of lubricants and specialty products. In 2008, Total signed a joint venture agreement with Saudi Aramco to launch Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), which is developing a full conversion refinery in Jubail. Commissioning of the SATORP refinery and petrochemical complex commenced several weeks ago and all units will come on stream at the end of 2013. The full-conversion Jubail complex is designed to refine 400,000 barrels per day of oil to produce high-grade automotive fuel. The complex also includes integrated petrochemical units to produce benzene, paraxylene and propylene. — SG
