Saudi Aramco and South Korea's S-OIL inaugurated Saturday the completion of Onsan Refinery expansion - the world's largest single train PX (raw material for polyester) plant - in Ulju County, Ulsan, in the presence of President Lee Myung Bak. The inauguration celebrating successful completion of petrochemical production plant was attended, among others, by Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Aramco CEO and President Khalid A. Al-Falih, and Cho Yang Ho, Chairman of Hanjin Group. Commercial operation of the world's largest single train PX plant set a new landmark in both taking Korean petrochemical industry's global status and competitiveness to a higher level and in further vitalizing bilateral economic cooperation and exchanges in the private sector based on the principles of promoting mutual benefits between Saudi Aramco and Hanjin Group as majority shareholders of S-OIL. Al-Naimi said Saudi Aramco, which has made S-OIL what it is now, is a global company that can do everything in relation to oil, ranging from oil development to the refining, transportation and sale of oil. He also said that Korea and Saudi Arabia could combine mutual strengths and develop global markets since Saudi Aramco selected S-OIL, a Korean company, as its partner. Al Naimi further said "cooperation between S-OIL and Saudi Aramco is seen as the most ideal model of economic cooperation between an oil producing country and an oil consuming country. It is known as the most successful case out of the many projects that Saudi Arabia has undertaken around the world." The ties between S-OIL and Saudi Aramco maintained for more than 20 years is the symbol for friendship of Korea and Saudi Arabia beyond a mere exchange between the two companies, he added. CEO of S-OIL Ahmed A. Subaey said "the new aromatics complex, which produces textile material capable of producing 3.4 billion pieces of clothes a year, will enrich the lives of mankind." He said that S-OIL has expanded its business domain onto renewable energy solar PV, thereby proactively supporting the national initiative for green growth. By selling products streaming out of the new plant to overseas markets, S-OIL expects to add another $2 billion to its export revenues a year. Price of PX, which is the major production from the PX plant, has constantly rose since bottoming out from $847/ton in July, 2011 to reach record-high of $1,698/ton in March this year. It closed at an average of $1,675 in September. Since commercial operation in mid-April, S-OIL's 2Q sales in its petrochemical business achieved 915.6 billion won in sales and 77.2 billion won in operating income, growing by 156 percent and a whopping 852 percent, respectively. President Lee Myung Bak said the plant would further boost the Korean oil refining industry from an “industry that refines imported crude oil” into an “industry that produces and exports high value added petroleum products.”
