Sunday, Oct 09, 2011
(This item was originally published Saturday.)
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco, will tender a long-expected refinery project at Jizan in the kingdom's southwest in early 2012, the company's top executive said Saturday.
Aramco Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al Falih said the tender for the refinery project would be launched in four to five months.
The planned 400,000-barrel-a-day Jizan refinery, to be located on the Red Sea, aims to provide refined products for the domestic market, which is facing rapidly rising demand. The project was initially due to be implemented by the Saudi government as a private sector initiative but, after generating limited interest, was handed over to Aramco.
Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy, has seen its domestic energy requirements surge in recent years as the government spent oil revenues on new industries and infrastructure to diversify the local economy and to accommodate the kingdom's growing population.
-By Summer Said, Dow Jones Newswires; +966-546-842373; summer.said@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-10-11 0406GMT
