Saudi Aramco President visits S-Oil plant construction site in Ulsan in support of Shaheen Project

Key executives of oil giant Saudi Aramco, the parent company of S-Oil, visited the Korean refiner's almost 70-percent complete construction site for a petrochemical complex in Ulsan that is part of the 9.2 trillion won ($6.5 billion) Shaheen project.

Saudi Aramco's president of downstream operations Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani leaves his signature wishing for safe construction and the Shaheen project’s success on a 118-meter-high propylene tower at S-Oil's Shaheen project facilities in Ulsan on May 12. [S-OIL]

Key executives of oil giant Saudi Aramco, the parent company of S-Oil, visited the Korean refiner's construction site for a petrochemical complex in Ulsan that is part of the 9.2 trillion won ($6.5 billion) Shaheen project, as it nears a 70 percent completion rate.

Saudi Aramco's President of downstream operations Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani visited the site at the Onsan National Industrial Complex while accompanied by S-Oil CEO Anwar Al-Hejazi and Aramco Asia Korea Representative Director Khalid Radi on Monday in a show of support for the project, S-Oil said Tuesday.

The Shaheen project is Korea's largest foreign investment to date, and will see the completion of one of Korea's largest oil refining facilities in Ulsan, with a target completion date of 2026. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in March 2023.

The project was 69.1 percent complete as of Tuesday, according to S-Oil.

Al-Qahtani looked around facilities including a thermal crude to chemicals facility — the first globally to commercialize Saudi Aramco's new technology — a steam cracker for ethylene production, a polymer plant and a propylene tower.

“The Shaheen project is testament to Aramco’s continuing commitment to petrochemicals,” Al-Qahtani said while speaking to workers.

“I find your work so inspiring not just for S-Oil’s future growth, but for the global petrochemical market as a whole,” he said of the project's significance.

He also encouraged workers and praised their commitment to the project's completion.

“As an engineer who has been involved in many large-scale projects, I know firsthand how much effort goes into such a major undertaking, and I recognize your sense of purpose: to deliver the project on time with the highest quality,” he said.

The Ulsan plant is expected to have a production capacity of 1.8 million tons of ethylene — the primary feedstock for polyethylene, which is the raw material for plastic and synthetic materials — as well as some 770,000 tons of propylene and 200,000 tons of butadiene.

The basic chemicals are set to be supplied to nearby Korean downstream businesses through a pipeline.

“By reliably supplying raw materials on time to downstream companies, we expect to not only save logistics cost within the value chain but also create a competitive petrochemical industrial cluster, thereby leaving a positive impact in terms of revitalizing the local economy and strengthening Korea’s industrial competitiveness,” an S-Oil spokesperson said.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]