Chemanol to supply methanol to Saudi Amiral project over 20 years

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Saudi Arabia’s Methanol Chemicals Co (Chemanol) has signed a 20-year deal to supply methanol to the Amiral petrochemical project of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co (SATORP).

Under the agreement, Chemanol will supply 100,000 tonnes of methanol to SATORP on an annual basis when the complex starts up in three years’ time, Chemanol said in a filing on the Saudi Stock Exchange.

“The commercial operation [of Amiral complex] and supply [of methanol] are planned to start by the end of 2027,” Chemanol said.

It added that “the financial impact of this agreement is currently indeterminable due to the changes in market conditions and product prices at the time of starting to supply the methanol”.

SATORP, a joint venture between energy giant Saudi Aramco and French TotalEnergies, is expanding operations via building the $11bn Amiral complex in Jubail.

The complex is expected to have a mixed-feed cracker and utilities, with a nameplate capacity of 1.65m tonnes/year of ethylene and related industrial gases.

Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts for the Amiral project were awarded in June 2023 to South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

Aramco owns 62.5% of SATORP, while TotalEnergies holds the remaining stake of 37.5%.

The companies made a final investment decision on Amiral in December 2022, to enable SATORP’s Jubail refinery to advance Aramco’s liquids-to-chemicals strategy.

Amiral will enable SATORP to convert internally produced refinery off-gases and naphtha, as well as ethane and natural gasoline supplied by Aramco, into higher value chemicals.

Thumbnail image: At a port in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 15 May 2023. (Ute Grabowsky/imageBROKER/Shutterstock)