Global petrochemical company Ineos is planning to build three new plants in Saudi Arabia in what will be its first investment in the Middle East, underscoring the company's ambitions and growing presence in the petrochemical sector.
Ineos will invest $2bn in the plants at the Jubail 2 complex through an initial deal with state-owned Saudi Aramco and Total. The plants will form part of Aramco and Total's planned $5bn Project Amiral complex at Jubail.
The focus for Ineos will be largely downstream. Its investment will cover a 425,000 t/yr acrylonitrile plant, the first plant of its kind in the Middle East, as well as a 400,000 t/yr Linear Alpha Olefin (LAO) plant and associated world-scale Poly Alpha Olefin (PAO) unit. All three plants are scheduled to start production in 2025.
The facilities will produce the key building blocks for carbon fibre, engineering polymers and synthetic lubricants, which Ineos said are pivotal to economic growth in the region.
Ineos' Saudi project is the latest part of the company's growth strategy. It most recently announced a €3bn investment in a new project at Antwerp. That facility will be co-located with existing Ineos derivative production assets, which include 415,000 t/yr polyethylene, 450,000 t/yr ethylene oxide and 130,000 t/yr polypropylene plants.
Ineos, which has investments across the UK, has also made acquisitions in China and is working on capacity increases in the US Gulf Coast at its Alabama and Chocolate Bayou facilities.
