By Kang Seung-woo
Completion of a refinery expansion plan has lifted S-Oil to stand among the world’s leading petrochemical-suppliers.
The company has started full-scale operations of a large petrochemical plant at its factory in Onsan, Ulsan, North Gyeongsang Province, beefing up production of paraxylene (PX) and other petrochemical products including benzene.
As part of its efforts to create new growth engines, S-Oil invested a total of 1.3 trillion won ($1.20 billion) in the No. 2 Aromatic Complex construction project to build facilities that would more than double the refiner’s petrochemical production capacity.
It broke ground for the expansion project on Jun. 11 2009 and the complex was ready in March this year. After two months of test runs the firm has recently started operating at full capacity.
The operation of the No. 2 Aromatic Complex will enable S-Oil to annually produce 1,600,000 tons of PX, the largest among single plants in the world, and cement its position as one of the most competitive suppliers of petrochemical products. The company expects the operation will also increase its annual sales by around 3.5 trillion won, while raising its exports by some $3.2 billion every year.
“The No. 2 Aromatic Complex is our new growth engine and future driving force that will help us diversify our business areas and establish a solid presence in the industry,” said S-Oil CEO Ahmed Subaey.
“We’ll be able to gain a firm foothold in the petrochemical market as well as in the oil refining and lube oil markets where we’ve already secured global competitiveness.”
Along with PX, the complex is capable of annually cranking out 600,000 tons of benzene, basic feedstock for synthetic fibers and petrochemical products, up from a previous 300,000 tons per year.
“We export about 60 percent of our total petrochemical production each year,” said an S-Oil official. “With the start of operation of No. 2 Aromatic Complex, we’ll not only become the most influential PX supplier in the Asia-Pacific region, but we’ll also emerge as a petrochemical market leader by taking advantage of our geographical proximity to the center of global demand growth.”