SABIC, OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) have signed a Project Development Agreement of a jointly owned petrochemical complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), the Sultanate of Oman. The three companies aim to establish a petrochemical complex consisting of a steam cracker and derivative units and a natural gas liquid (NGL) extraction facility. They will conduct the necessary studies and collaborate using their wealth of technical and commercial experience to develop the project with unique attributes that make it globally competitive and profitable for all three partners. The agreement was signed by SABIC CEO Abdulrahman bin Saleh Al Fageeh; OQ Group CEO Talal bin Hamed al Awfi; and CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International Shafi Taleb Al-Ajmi. Commenting on this agreement, Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, said, "SABIC's collaborative approach has built longstanding relationships of collaboration, delivered innovative solutions and created mutual value for more than 45 years. This agreement enables us to identify and assess opportunities for ambitious and sustainable growth by bringing together our capabilities, expertise and technologies and working collectively with our partners. Our involvement in this well-positioned project is consistent with our growth strategy and Saudi Vision 2030 goals to develop a stronger downstream business, addressing challenges in the petrochemicals industry such as carbon neutrality, and providing diversified and sustainable products." The project intends to deploy state-of-the-art technologies to minimise carbon footprint and incorporate circular economy aspects and commit to high environmental standards. This mega project would support the region's development aspirations, maximizing socio-economic impacts as well as value addition to these companies. In addition, the project would also benefit from the excellent location of Duqm being close to markets and taking advantage of the infrastructure which has been developed in the area, as OQ continues in its strategy to help develop SEZAD as manufacturing and logistics hub in line with vision 2040.
