Saudi Aramco Total Refinery & Petrochemicals Co. (Satorp) started shipments of refined products from its 400,000 b/d full-conversion refinery complex at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Satrop, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco 62.5% and Total SA 37.5%, reported earlier this year that the refinery was nearing completion (OGJ Online, Apr. 25, 2013). Mohammed J. Al-Hammad, executive director of the project, said at that time that all units were expected to be in operation by November.
Aramco loaded a first shipment of heavy fuel oil at the Jubail oil terminal on Sept. 23. Total will left a cargo of diesel for the next shipment, slated for later this month.
Satorp has been producing commercial-grade fuel oil and diesel since Sept. 13, the venture said. Crude is being processed into naphtha, diesel, and heavy fuel oil in the first atmospheric distillation unit on line.
Commissioning will be a “months-long process,” with units starting up in stages, the venture said, due to the facility’s size and complexity.
“As more conversion units come on stream, the products will undergo more complex processes and the amount of crude oil refined will ramp up,” the venture said.
Construction on Jubail started in April 2010, and all units are slated to be operational by yearend.
The $14 billion refinery will process Arab heavy crude from nearby Safaniya and Manifa fields and yield petrochemicals as well as high-quality fuels. It will be Saudi Arabia’s first producer of petroleum coke and paraxylene.
