| This is something we should be doing. All we've got to do is find somebody's back yard to build it in... |
Saudi Aramco plans to build a multibillion dollar export-oriented refinery with a 400,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity in the Red Sea city of Yanbu. This was disclosed by Khalid Al-Buainain, vice president of refining at Aramco, to reporters at an energy conference in Dubai. Investment for the plant will run to $4 billion-$5 billion, he said. Saudi Aramco wanted to form a joint venture with one or more international partners for the facility, he said. "We are talking across the globe to all refiners," he said, adding that the deal should be finalized "within a year or so." A lack of global refining capacity to meet growing fuel demand in the United States and Asia has helped push oil prices to record highs this year. Yanbu is strategically located and the new refinery could supply the US East Coast with high-quality gasoline, low-sulfur diesel to Europe and naphtha to East Asia, Al-Buainain said. The proposed refinery will run on a diet of heavier quality crude, he said. India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) has held "preliminary talks" for a stake in the new Yanbu refinery, HPCL Chairman M.B. Lal was quoted as saying yesterday. HPCL has also offered Saudi Aramco a stake in its Vishakhapatnam refinery which will double capacity to 300,000 bpd in three years, Lal said. Lal visited Saudi Arabia with India's Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar late last month.