Petro Rabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical of Japan, said yesterday that its integrated oil refinery and petrochemical complex will prove a tipping point in the Kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy and forge the development of sustainable downstream industries. Petro Rabigh said in a press statement published today that the massive integrated facility is being constructed at the site of Saudi Aramco's existing Rabigh refinery, which produces 19 percent of the Kingdom's current refining capacity. The existing Rabigh refinery, which was commissioned in 1989, has a current crude processing capacity of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and currently produces naphtha, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil. The $10 billion project, located at the Red Sea port of Rabigh, is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2008 with commercial operations expected to commence in the fourth quarter of next year.
