Saudi Aramco and Total announce MOU with JXTG to build new Ethylidene Norbornene (ENB) Facility as part of Amiral

Saudi Aramco and Total announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation (JXTG), a Japanese oil and gas and chemical company and the world’s leading Ethylidene Norbornene (ENB) producer.

Under the MoU, JXTG plans to invest in a 23,000 tons per year state-of-the-art ENB plant, that will use feedstock from the Amiral complex in Jubail, located on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast. JXTG has launched the feasibility study of the ENB plant in April 2020.

ENB is an important component in the manufacture of Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM), an advanced heat and weather resistant synthetic rubber used primarily in the automotive and construction industries. Demand for ENB has been increasing strongly alongside growth in the automotive production sector.

This specialty chemical project will be located in the new value park of the large-scale chemical complex of Amiral. It will give JXTG access to a reliable supply of feedstock and energy, with large infrastructure, to better serve customers directly in the Middle East and in other regions.

Fayez Al-Sharef, Saudi Aramco’s Director, Amiral Program, said, “We are pleased to be working with JXTG on this project.  This MOU is confirmation of our commitment to the Amiral project. JXTG, through their leading-edge technology, will be able to produce ENB for the first time in the Middle East region. It marks yet another milestone in the development of the Saudi chemical industry – a key element of achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 Plan.”

Jean-Jacques Mosconi, Senior Vice President of Total for the Amiral project added, “The addition of JXTG and their ENB project to the growing list of investors in the value park of Amiral is great news. The participation of JXTG will add significant strength and value to the Amiral project and is another demonstration of our successful long-standing partnership with Saudi Aramco”.

About the Amiral complex

Announced in April 2018, the world-class complex is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco (62.5%) and Total (37.5%) and will be located next to the SATORP refinery, in order to fully exploit operational synergies. It will comprise a mixed-feed cracker – the first in the Gulf region to be integrated with a refinery – with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value chemical units and is scheduled to start-up in 2025.

The project will provide feedstock to other chemical and specialty chemical plants that will be located in the value park of the Amiral complex, in the same industrial area in Jubail.