Aramco Cancels Ras Al-Khair Plant, Eyes Asia

Saudi Aramco has cancelled its planned refinery and petrochemical complex in Ras Al-Khair, a crude-oil-to-chemicals (COTC) facility with a designed capacity of around 400,000 barrels A proposal to relocate the project to Jubail has also been shelved, and the company is now steering its petrochemical growth toward Asian markets.

The Ras Al-Khair project was originally announced in 2022 and planned jointly with SABIC as Aramco's chemicals division. After a reassessment, the plan was halted during 2024–2025 as part of a broader spending review. Aramco is also reviewing or delaying three additional chemical projects in Jubail and Yanbu inside the Kingdom.

The company says the shift reflects a focus on Asia, particularly China, where chemicals demand accounts for roughly half of the global chemical market and project construction costs are estimated at about two-thirds of costs in other regions. Aramco's liquids-to-chemicals strategy is now centered largely on this market.

Growing footprint in Asia

Aramco holds a 30% stake in the Huajin Aramco Petrochemical project in Panjin, Liaoning, China, which is expected to begin production in 2026. It has also committed around USD 7 billion to the Shaheen project in South Korea, described as one of the world's largest refinery-integrated steam crackers.

At home, Aramco, alongside Sinopec and Yasref, has signed a venture framework agreement for a planned petrochemical expansion linked to the Yasref refinery. The moves support a downstream target to convert up to 4 million barrels

For residents and the wider business community, the decisions signal a recalibration of major domestic industrial plans, with new investment increasingly directed toward markets where demand and cost advantages are strongest.

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