Saudi Aramco has selected the Dow Chemical Company as its potential partner to engage in exclusive negotiations concerning a joint venture company to construct, own and operate a world-scale chemicals and plastics production complex at Ras Tanura, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

This joint venture would encompass an array of world-scale facilities producing a very broad portfolio of plastics and chemical products.
The proposed petrochemical project would be integrated with the existing Ras Tanura refinery complex, which is one of the world’s largest refinery complexes.
When fully operational, the new petrochemical complex will be one of the largest plastics and chemicals production complexes in the world and be ideally situated to access most major world markets.
The joint venture would produce an extensive and diversified slate of chemicals, and introduce new value chains and specialty products to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Aramco said it hopes that the availability of these chemicals in the Kingdom will facilitate the development of downstream conversion industries and the further industrialisation of the Kingdom.
This latest step from Saudi Aramco highlights the company’s efforts to develop its petrochemicals business.
In March this year, Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Co broke ground on the $9.8 billion PetroRabigh integrated refining and petrochemicals project.
The project consists of upgrading Aramco’s existing 400,000 bpd refinery at the Red Sea town of Rabigh and integrating the site with a new petrochemical plant. This project include a high olefins yield fluid catalytic cracker complex integrated with a world scale, ethane based cracker, producing approximately 1.3 million tones per year (tpy), 900,000 tpy of propylene, and 60,000 bpd of gasoline as well as other refined products.
Sumitomo is being tapped for its extensive and proprietary petrochemical technology and marketing expertise.