Saudi Aramco and its joint venture partners, Fujian Province, Sinopec and Exxon Mobil, has announced the full commercial operation of the Fujian Integrated Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project (FREP), China's first integrated refining and petrochemical facility with foreign participation. FREP has tripled the capacity of the existing refinery - from 80,000 barrels per day to 240,000 barrels per day - to produce transportation fuels and other refined products, which will help meet the region's growing need for fuels and chemical products, according a latest report carried by Saudi Aramco"s web-site. Speaking on the occasion, Ali I. AI-Naimi, Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said “This project reflects the depth of Saudi-Chinese relations and opens wider horizons of cooperation between the two countries in the petroleum and petrochemical areas. China has one of the fastest growing oil consumption rates, and Saudi Arabia, being the world's largest oil exporter, always seeks to enhance its petroleum relations with China through joint ventures thereby boosting sales of Saudi oil in China.” --MORE
