Monday, Apr 15, 2013
(This article was first published on Sunday)
DUBAI--Construction of the oil refinery complex developed jointly by French oil major Total SA (TOT) and state-giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, is almost complete and will receive its first crude oil feed within weeks, Total's chief executive Christophe de Margerie said in an interview with Al Arabiya Television aired Sunday.
"We will begin in the next few weeks," Mr. de Margerie told the Dubai-based channel. The joint venture, known as Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co., or Satorp, would take time to make sure all units were operating well, he added.
Satorp is building a 400,000 barrel-a-day export refinery in Jubail in the kingdom's eastern region, which was initially expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2013.
Mr. de Margerie told reporters on Thursday that the refinery will start working at full capacity by year end.
The refinery complex, 62.5% of which owned by Aramco and 37.5% is controlled by Total, is estimated to cost about $14 billion to build and is part of a drive by the world's top oil exporter to boost refining capacity.
In December, Satorp said it will double its capital to 7.12 billion Saudi riyals ($1.95 billion) in the first quarter of 2013 to fund the refinery. The capital increase was paid in cash by shareholders in proportion to their stakes and did not change ownership levels.
Write to Summer Said at summer.said@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
15-04-13 0346GMT
