SATORP Refinery, or Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company, headquartered in Jubail 2 Industrial City (Jubail-2). Developing the refinery goes back to the 21st of May 2006, when Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabian Total Company (SAC). The agreement was to design, build, and own an international refinery with a capacity of 400 thousand barrels of Arabic heavy crude oil daily with a total cost of 14 billion dollars.
Development of the SATORP Refinery
On 30 August 2008, Saudi Aramco and Total Company signed their primary legislation and agreed to form a limited liability company under the name of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company, SATORP.
By July 2009, the company had all engineering, procurement, and construction contracts and transferred project teams to several countries to begin designing the refinery units. While parts of the refinery were under construction abroad, the project teams inside the Kingdom were busy laying out the infrastructure that would define the refinery and the company's administrative complex.
Financing of SATORP Refinery
In June 2010, the refinery project was given 8.5 billion dollars as finance from external financers, including 40 banks and seven international credit agencies, in addition to three Islamic institutions. Their financing amounted to 2.8 billion dollars, a billion of it as Sukuk.
Work on the refinery's construction began as per the best standards in June 2008 after signing the partnership agreement (62.5% for Saudi Aramco and 37.5% for Total) to build a highly complicated refining complex safely and within the planned time and budget.
The selection of the refinery site, which took an area of 5 square kilometers, was a subject of study. Studying the location provided three advantages, its proximity to international shipping lines across the Gulf, availability of energy sources and raw materials needed to operate the facility, and the establishment of the refinery next to a large industrial complex, which provides opportunities for industrial integration. The refinery is also connected to Saudi Aramco's oil, natural gas, sulfur, and liquefied petroleum gas.
The refinery passed many tests to ensure safe operation. The refinery construction included engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning of 13 procurement contracts, turnkey construction and procurements, EPCC, as well as commissioning of 45 processing units, and onshore and offshore facilities (Tankfarm and port).
Advantages of SATORP Refinery
It is the first refinery in the Kingdom and the largest refinery in the Middle East for the production of petroleum coke. It has a 25-kilometer pipeline and a petroleum coke transport system linking the refinery and export facilities at King Fahd Industrial Port in Jubail. It is also the first project built and operated in Jubail 2, and it is an environmentally friendly refinery.
The first shipments from the refinery began on 23 September 2013, the Saudi National Day, and the company started its commercial operations in June 2014. It also managed to increase its production capacity from 400 thousand barrels per day at the beginning of its operation to 440 thousand barrels per day.
Achievements of the SATORP Refinery
In 2015, Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP) in Jubail completed a full year of work without recording any time-consuming injuries. The company is developing a global chemical production complex and an associated value-added complex to merge with SATORP and the other existing projects in Jubail, which would enhance the economic benefits provided by the Company's investments in the refining, processing, and marketing sector.
In December 2020, it won the King Abdulaziz Quality Award in its fifth edition, in recognition of its institutional excellence that enhances competitiveness in business sectors and the quality of its services.
On June 24, 2023, Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies announced the expansion of the SATORP refinery and the launch of the $11 billion Amiral project. This initiative aims to enhance the strategy of converting liquids into chemicals and to increase integration between refining and petrochemical operations. The commercial operations are targeted to commence in 2027.
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