Expansion is key to Saudi Arabia's oil future and maximising returns on its hydrocarbon reserves.
In an in-depth review of the Kingdom's current and future activies, Middle East Petrochemicals magazine reveals that the government-owned producer and refiner, Saudi Aramco, will be the driving force behind much of the expansion activity.
With Saudi holding reserves at the end of 2010 of some 260bn barrels of crude oil and 275bn cubic feet of gas, the article claims that refining operations, currently at around 5% of the world's total capacity through Saudi Aramco and its affiliates, do not yet match the scale of the Kingdom's oil reserves and are, therefore, not maximising its potential financial returns.
Three major projects are already underway, with updgrades to Aramco's Ras Tanura, Jubail and Yanbu refineries, while the goverment is also asking the company to build and finance a $7bn plant in Jizan. Despite some challenges, all three upgrades are more or less on track.
All of the operations will rely on non-subsidised crude supply from Aramco, with the company also looking to develop petrochemical operations within Saudi, including recent launches of olefin and polyolefin production plants, mainly focused in Jubail and Yanbu.
Additive and catalyst service companies are also starting to flourish as a result of a more active Saudi downstream market.