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Sadara all set to be key contributor for Aramco's downstream growth strategy

JEDDAH - The Dow Chemical Company and Saudi Arabian Oil Company ( Saudi Aramco ) Monday announced the official formation of Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), a joint venture between the two companies.

Also announced are Sadara's Board of Directors and its senior officers. The Sadara Board is comprised of eight members, with Abdullatif A. Al-Othman, senior vice president, Engineering and Project Management, Saudi Aramco as Board Chairman and James D. McIlvenny, Dow Senior Vice President, as the Deputy Chairman. Other members of the Sadara Board include: Tofiq H. Gabsani, President of Saudi Refining, Inc; Michael R. Gambrell, Dow Executive Vice President and Advisor on Manufacturing & Engineering to Chairman & CEO; Abdulaziz M. Judaimi, Saudi Aramco 's Vice President, Chemicals; Ahmad O. Al-Khowaiter, Saudi Aramco Chief Engineer; Howard Ungerleider, Dow Senior Vice President and President of Dow's Performance Plastics Division; William H. Weideman, Dow Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

A number of senior officers of the JV are also named by the Sadara Board, they are: Ali A. Abuali, former president of Aramco Services Company, Saudi Aramco , a US-based subsidiary in Houston, US, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Sadara; Luciano Poli, Dow Finance Director for Europe, Middle East & Africa, has been named Chief Financial Officer; Lee Trusty, Dow Joint Manufacturing Program Director for the Sadara project, has been named Vice President for Manufacturing and Engineering. Naser M. Al-Abdulkareem, Commercial Director for Vela International, has been named Vice President, Business & Services; Mohammed T. Al-Sellemi, Director of Human Resources Services Department, Saudi Aramco , has been named Vice President for Industrial Relations.

"Today's announcements mark another exciting and significant step forward for Sadara as it fulfills its commitment to building and operating a world scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City," said Andrew Liveris, Dow's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih said: "Sadara is poised to become a significant contributor for Saudi Aramco 's transformational downstream growth strategy. I'm pleased to see that this game-changing enterprise has now become a reality. I am confident that Sadara will be a success story for many generations to come, and this unique partnership will help foster downstream industries and support industrial diversification that add significant value to the Kingdom's hydrocarbon resources."

Once complete, the JV complex now being built in Jubail will be one of the world's largest integrated chemical facilities, and the largest ever built in a single phase. First production units are expected to come on line in the second half of 2015. All units are expected to be up and running in 2016.

Sadara is expected to deliver annual revenues of approximately $10 billion within a few years of operation. The JV and related investments are expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities. For the JV alone, by the end of 2011, Dow and Saudi Aramco are aiming to recruit hundreds of Saudi nationals for the first batch of technical trainees for competitive and unique manufacturing and engineering training programs.

Utilizing Dow's cutting-edge product technologies and Aramco's world-class project management and execution capabilities, the manufacturing units will produce a wide range of performance products such as polyurethanes (isocyanates, polyether polyols), propylene glycol, elastomers, linear low density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, glycol ethers and amines.

© The Saudi Gazette 2011