JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia's industrial project in Jazan, which includes a large refinery, will be completed within four years, local media reported Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi as saying. Saudi Aramco planned to begin operations at the refinery and oil tanker terminal on the Red Sea coast in late 2016, but its project has been delayed by work on other infrastructure falling behind schedule. “We are now working on the establishment of a huge industrial project in the Jazan region, including an advanced refinery with a capacity of up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) – along with factories, petrochemical and mining projects – and (it) will be completed, God Willing, within four years,” Naimi said in a speech published by Saudi media on Sunday. Jazan will be the last of a trio of new 400,000 bpd refineries to be opened in Saudi Arabia between 2013 and 2018. The first, at Jubail on the Gulf coast, is expected to export its first oil products cargo in late September. — SG
