NEW DELHI, 24 March 2006 — Saudi Arabia, which is set to build two major export-oriented refineries, may also expand two of its existing plants by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) each, a senior Saudi Aramco executive said yesterday.
The new expansion projects would take Saudi Arabia’s refining capacity growth to 1 million bpd by the end of the decade, a rise of nearly 50 percent, and would likely allow it to increase exports of refined fuels to Asia and the United States. “We are looking at expanding Yanbu and Ras Tanura by 100,000 bpd each,” Aramco Vice President for Corporate Planning Ali A. Al-Muhareb told reporters on the sidelines of the India Oil & Gas Conference (IOGC) in New Delhi. He said the expansions could happen by 2009 or 2010.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and many fellow OPEC members are embarking on a wave of refinery expansion projects to take advantage of strong margins and help rein in soaring oil prices, which they fear might undermine future demand for their crude.
Aramco is in talks with French oil giant Total over a new $4 billion-$5 billion 400,000-bpd export plant in Jubail on the Middle East Gulf, while ConocoPhillips has put in the best bid to build another new similar-size plant in Yanbu, officials say.