SABIC and ExxonMobil Assessing Petrochemical Joint Venture on U.S. Gulf Coast

SABIC and an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation

disclosed that both them were thinking of a possibility of developing a petrochemical complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast, which would be jointly owned by them. The company indicated that if the project is developed, then it would be located in either in Louisiana or Texas because of the proximity of natural gas feedstock. The intended unit would have a steam cracker and derivative units. Exxon and SABIC said that they would conduct necessary studies before making final investment decisions. The two firms indicated that they would also work with state and local officials to help identify a possible site with adequate infrastructure access. Both the companies were having the advantage of working together for more than three and half decades in big chemical joint ventures in Saudi Arabia. The American firm's President, Neil Chapman, said: "We have the capability to design a project with a unique set of attributes that would make it competitive globally. That is vitally important as most of the chemical demand growth in the next several decades is anticipated to come from developing economies." Similarly, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan, said, "We are focused on geographic diversification to supply new markets. The proposed venture would capture competitive feedstock and reinforce SABIC's strong position in the value chain." On Monday, the stock fell 1.87 percent at the time of writing this.