SATORP: An Exceptional Partnership

Benefitting from the combined expertise of Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies, SATORP is one of the most efficient integrated refining and petrochemical platforms in the world. Its role is to produce high value-added refined products from heavy crude oil. In December 2022, both partners also signed an investment agreement to build Amiral, a giant petrochemical complex, which will be integrated with the existing site. The complex will ultimately be owned and operated by the SATORP refinery.  

In 2008, TotalEnergies and Saudi Aramco established the first joint venture between the two companies, culminating in the construction of SATORP, a refining and petrochemical platform located in the industrial city of Jubail on the country's east coast.

SATORP, one of the most efficient platforms in the world

Operational since 2014, SATORP is not only one of the largest refining and petrochemical platforms in the world, but also one of the most complex and efficient. SATORP is a full-conversion platform, meaning that it can convert heavy, high-sulfur crude oil that is especially difficult to process into high value-added refined products, without producing heavy fuel oil or bitumen. To achieve this, the refinery relies on a full range of processing units:

• two distillate hydrocrackers to convert heavy petroleum fractions into lighter, ultra-low-sulfur products;
• a fluid catalytic cracking unit that produces a wide variety of products, including very light hydrocarbons, such as propylene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); and
• a coking unit (coking is a thermal process used to convert heavy fractions into light petroleum products and coke).

The SATORP platform's production capacity has gradually been raised from 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day in 2014 to 460,000 barrels. Its annual output is approximately 22 million tons of refined petroleum products, including 700,000 tons of paraxylene, 150,000 tons of benzene and 210,000 tons of high-purity propylene.  

In addition to the SATORP platform, TotalEnergies and Saudi Aramco have strengthened their partnership by investing in a new complementary project to build a vast world-scale petrochemical complex fully integrated with the refinery. Called Amiral, this project represents an investment of $11 billion. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023 with commercial operation planned for 2027.

A platform clearly geared towards the future

SATORP is committed to championing the circular economy. In July 2022, it received the international ISCC Plus certification for its circular economy projects. This is the first refinery in the Middle East / North Africa to obtain this certification. The platform is developing various projects, including the production of circular polymers using oils from recycled plastic waste, and the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from used cooking oils. The refinery produced its first batch of recycled polymers in November 2022.

SATORP is also focused on its target of reducing its carbon footprint in line with TotalEnergies' ambition to achieve net zero by 2050, together with society. Sustainable development is another cornerstone of the Amiral petrochemical project and is not only reflected in the design of its facilities, but also demonstrated in the project's execution and its construction phase.

Our initiatives to promote training and local development at the SATORP site

SATORP employs 1,200 people, nearly 80% of whom are Saudi nationals. They include 28 young Saudi engineers, who were given the opportunity of completing their studies in France through a partnership with IFP Énergies Nouvelles. In addition, nearly 400 Saudi operators received on-site training in a dedicated training center created by SATORP. This training strategy will be pursued as part of the Amiral project.

The SATORP platform is committed to fostering diversity. In 2014, it was the first company in Jubail's industrial zone to employ a female engineer. Since then, SATORP has been successfully leading initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion. Today, some 30 women are employed in operational or support positions.