Saudi Aramco and Total constructed a $9.6bn export refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The project was executed by Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), a joint venture established by the two companies under an agreement signed in June 2008. Saudi Aramco owns 62.5% in SATORP while the remaining 37.5% is owned by Total.
Construction was completed by the second half of 2013 and the refinery went online in July 2014. The SATORP complex reached its full design capacity in 2014. The refinery treats 400,000 barrels a day of heavy crude oil to produce diesel and jet fuel. It also produces 700,000t of paraxylene, 150,000t of benzene and 200,000t of propylene a year.
The SATORP project received financing commitments worth $13.5bn from local and international banks. Approximately $8.5bn in project finance was secured from various sources, including the public investment fund, export credit agencies and commercial financial institutions. SATORP raised $1bn through Sukuk funds in 2011.
The plant is one of the most advanced in the world, manufacturing products that conform to global standards. It employs 1,100 personnel.
Export refinery facilities
“Saudi Aramco owns 62.5% in SATORP while the remaining 37.5% is owned by Total.”
The SATORP refinery has facilities for the processing and intermediate storage of crude. The King Fahd Industrial Port provides marine facilities for berthing the ships and tankers that carry feedstock and products to and from the refinery. SATORP refinery launched its first fuel oil shipment from King Fahd Industrial Port in September 2013.
The refinery is linked to export facilities by a 25km corridor containing interconnecting pipelines and a coke conveyor system.
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SATORP refinery construction and infrastructure
The refinery covers an area of 1,200 acres with a total built-up area of 70,000m². It features distillation and hydrotreating units, conversion units, sulphur / amine units, an aromatics unit, plant and auxiliary utilities, a tank farm, pipeline and offsites, and a port tank farm.
The aromatics unit uses technology supplied by Axens. UOP is providing technology for the coker unit.
Construction of the refinery was divided into 13 packages. Package one included the distillation and hydrotreating units. Package two included the conversion unit and sulphur / amine units.
The aromatics unit formed package three and the coker unit is part of package four. Package five was divided into three parts, A, B and C, and included construction of various utilities.
The tank farm of the refinery formed package six. Construction of a permanent infrastructure at the plant was part of package seven. Pipelines and offsites were built under package eight.
“The refinery has a total built-up area of 70,000m².”
Package nine included the construction of the port tank farm and package ten involved installation of a permanent communication system at the plant.
Construction works at the site started in the last quarter of 2010. Nearly 30,000 personnel were involved in construction of the refinery during peak activity.
Various components of the refinery were manufactured across the world by contractors. In February 2011, five reactors that were part of package two arrived at the site. The 31.3m-long reactors have a diameter of 8m and weigh more than 1,000t.
The first unit of the refinery was operational by December 2012 after which the other units were commissioned.
Contractors for the SATORP refinery
In June 2009, SATORP awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contracts for all 13 packages. Package one was awarded to Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas. Package two was awarded to Technip Italy and Daelim Industrial. Samsung Engineering won the contract for package three.
Package four was executed by Chiyoda Petrostar and Samsung Engineering. The contract for package five A was awarded to Technip, package five B to SK E&C and package five C to MR Al-Khathhlan. Rotary Engineering and Petrol Steel Company won the contract for package six.
Al-Osais was responsible for package seven and GCC for package eight. Package nine was contracted to Dayim and Punj Lloyd. Sumitomo was responsible for package ten.
SATORP supply contracts
Elliott Company, a subsidiary of Japan’s Ebara Corporation, was awarded the contract to supply all 17 compressor trains for the SATORP refinery.
Technip subcontracted OMB Valves to supply its on-off ball valves for the project. Abdul-Rahman M Al-Shalawi Est won the contract to build the temporary facilities at the site.
ASCO Numatics supplied valves for the project. KOBE Steel manufactured the reactors for package two.
Elliott supplied all 17 compressor trains for the SATORP refinery.”
Petrol Steel Company subcontracted AYTB to manufacture and supply pipe spools and piping systems for the plant.
In August 2011, Invensys Operations Management was contracted to supply an integrated refinery information system for the plant.
Invensys in collaboration with Wipro Arabia provided its InFusion enterprise control system solution.
Hunan Sinoboom Heavy Industry’s GTBZ30 telescopic booms were used to carry out construction activities at the refinery.
