Riyadh, August 28 - Neftegaz.RU. Saudi Aramco and Air Products have signed a deal to form a $8 billion gasification and power joint venture (JV) in Saudi Arabia.
The new joint venture vehicle will purchase gasification assets, power block and associated utilities from state owned Aramco for about $8 billion and will be located in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan Economic City (JEC). These assets are currently under construction and will be transferred to the JV upon successful start-up, scheduled in 2019.
The focus of the JV will be to serve Saudi Aramco’s Jazan Refinery and terminal at JEC, a megaproject that will process heavy and medium crude oil to create liquefied petroleum gas, sulfur, asphalt, benzene and paraxylene, and add 400,000 barrels per day of refining capacity.
Aramco will provide the feedstock, and the joint venture will produce power, hydrogen and other utilities for Aramco. Air Products will hold at least 55 percent of the joint venture, with Aramco holding the balance. It is expected that the joint venture will operate the facility for a 25-year period at a fixed monthly fee.
It is also expected that the joint venture will increase job opportunities within the downstream sector of Saudi Arabia, as well as transferring the most advanced technologies in this field to the Kingdom, enabling Saudi talent to employ this technology for the 1st time.
