Riyadh – Mubasher: The two listed Saudi entities Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) have teamed up with French petroleum firm TotalEnergies and produced pyrolysis oil for the first time in the MENA region.
The pyrolysis oil, also called plastic waste derived oil (PDO), was developed after converting oil derived from plastic waste into ISCC+ certified circular polymers, according to a press release.
Aramco elaborated that the process helps in solving the challenge of end-of-life plastics since it allows using non-sorted plastics that can be difficult to recycle mechanically.
The plastic was processed at the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company’s (SATORP) facility which is jointly owned by Aramco and TotalEnergies in Jubail. It was later used as a feedstock by SABIC affiliate Petrokemya to produce certified circular polymers.
Three industrial plants were part of producing the region’s first pyrolysis oil and received the ISCC+ certification, namely SATORP refinery, Aramco’s Ju'aymah NGL Fractionation Plant, and Petrokemya.
Aramco’s President of Downstream, Mohammed Al Qahtani, said: “Our aim is to create circular solutions for plastic waste, while also making progress on our ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our wholly-owned operated assets by 2050.”
Al Qahtani added: “By leveraging spare capacity of existing infrastructure, we aim to produce circular products that could be scaled up at low cost. Aramco is considering multiple ways of tapping into new technologies and leveraging existing assets to support the deployment of circular, more sustainable and lower-carbon products.”
Last June, President and CEO of Aramco, Amin Nasser, called for further influence from Asia in the energy transition debate and hoped for the Asian market to take on a more prominent role in shaping an inclusive energy transition worldwide.
TotalEnergies’ President, Refining and Chemicals, Bernard Pinatel, meanwhile said: “This advanced plastic recycling initiative reflects TotalEnergies’ ambition to concretely contribute to addressing the challenge of end-of-life of plastics.
Pinatel pinpointed: “It is a major pathway towards TotalEnergies’ target to produce 30% of circular polymers by 2030, and its strategy to build a multi-energy company with the ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”
Last month, Aramco and TotalEnergies awarded contracts for the $11 billion Amiral complex in Saudi Arabia.
From his side, Sami Al Osaimi, SABIC EVP Petrochemicals (A), said: “This project shows collaboration across the petrochemical value chain to overcome upstream and downstream challenges in circular plastics. To this end, SABIC recently announced its target of 1 million metric tonnes of TRUCIRCLE ™ solutions by 2030, which intends to help provide our customers with more sustainable solutions.”
It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia’s SABIC and France-based TotalEnergies are founding members of the non-profit organisation Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW).
