Oil and gas are used in a great number of everyday products, such as fuels, plastics and resins. These have numerous applications in transportation, household appliances, food and industrial packaging, and other sectors. Meeting all of these needs around the world is not only a giant task: it is also our mission.
Asia & Middle East: Serving high-growth markets
Asia and the Middle East are key development areas for our refining and petrochemical activities. Demand for oil products in the growing Asian markets presents a major outlet for our production. At the same time, our presence in the Middle East gives us access to considerable resources at more advantageous prices, while serving as a strategic location to serve both regions’ markets.
- In South Korea, we are partners with Hanwha at our Daesan platform, the Company’s largest to date. The site converts Saudi heavy crude into high-value-added products, primarily intended for Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
- In Saudi Arabia, we are partners with Saudi Aramco at the brand new SATORP platform, the Company’s largest to date. The site converts Saudi heavy crude into high-value-added products, primarily intended for Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
North America: the shale gas revolution is creating new opportunities
Shale gas has breathed new life into our industrial activities in North America. Our local presence grants us access to abundant and inexpensive natural gas and crude oil to power our production plants. As a result, our refinery can run on domestic light shale crudes and our steam cracker meets more than 80% of its feedstock needs from ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as opposed to more costly naphtha. We have begun engineering studies into a new ethane cracker to further this strategy.
Making our steam cracker more flexible and competitive in Port Arthur
We have adapted the Port Arthur refinery steam cracker to take advantage of a more cost-effective feedstock. They now run on unconventional oil and gas extracted in the United States.
Europe: Investing to meet mature demand
To adapt to this new environment and make our sites more competitive, we are focusing our investments on our integrated refining and petrochemicals platforms and very high-value-added activities.
