Plan for EPDM monomer facility in Saudi Arabia

Tokyo – JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. is to conduct a feasibility study for a new ethylidene norbornene (ENB) production plant in Saudi Arabia, the company announced 17 April.

ENB is a component in the manufacture of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, which is primarily used in the automotive and construction industries. 

JXTG did not disclose details of the scale or the investment size of the project, which is to be located in Jubail, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast.

Integrated downstream of the SATORP refinery, the plant will be part of the Amiral complex, announced by Saudi Aramco and Total in April 2018. 

Amiral will comprise a mixed-feed cracker with annual capacity of 1,500 kilotonnes of ethylene and related petrochemical units.

According to JXTG, demand for ENB has been increasing strongly over the recent years, alongside the growth in demand for EPDM rubber.

The Japanese group is one of the world’s largest producers of ENB, with a production line in Japan and two in the US.