The purpose is not only to save the excessive consumption of natural gas by upstream and basic petrochemical plants, but also to reduce the export of raw materials that consequently return to the Saudi market as finished products.
Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al-Saud, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, told Arab News that this step was not being taken because of any shortage of natural gas. “The Kingdom has large reserves of gas. Our gas production is set to reach 15 billion cubic feet per day by 2016,” he said.
The royal commission will hold a strategic forum on downstream industries under the auspices of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Jubail on March 6-7.
“The forum, to be attended by more than 600 investors and experts in the field of downstream and upstream industries, will focus on stimulating investment towards downstream industries as a new economic and industrial policy of the Kingdom,” Prince Saud said.
According to him, more than 60 tons of petrochemical raw materials are produced in Jubail and Yanbu. “Most of this capacity is exported to countries all over the world. Later this comes back to us in the form of finished products. This does not serve our national economy,” he said.
The chairman praised Prince Faisal bin Turki, adviser at the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, for his efforts in achieving a tremendous developmental shift toward downstream industries that do not rely on natural gas.
“This has pushed the royal commission to activate its own initiatives to persuade local and international investors to invest in downstream industries with full support and facilities,” said Prince Saud.