The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and ConocoPhillips
(NYSE:COP) today announced they have approved continued funding for the
development of the Yanbu Export Refinery Project.
The Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips project would construct a
grassroots, 400,000 barrel-per-day, full-conversion refinery in the
Yanbu Industrial City, in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The refinery is
being designed to process Arabian heavy crude which would be supplied by
Saudi Aramco. The refinery would produce high-quality, ultra-low sulfur
refined products that will meet current and future product
specifications. Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips would each be
responsible for marketing one half of the refinery's production. The
refinery is targeted to start up in 2013.
The companies have completed the initial evaluation and front end
engineering and design (FEED) outlined in the May 2006 Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU). The next phase will include the solicitation of
bids, commitment of long lead items and site preparation work.
“We’re pleased to be
entering the next stage of development for the Yanbu export refinery
project, together with our partner, ConocoPhillips,”
said Khalid G. Al-Buainain, Saudi Aramco senior vice president for
Refining, Marketing & International. “This
facility will bolster the Kingdom’s refining
capacity, and provide additional quantities of high quality refined
products for global and domestic markets. This partnership is important
to Saudi Aramco, and this initiative is an important aspect of our
company’s expanding downstream business
portfolio,” he added.
“ConocoPhillips is pleased to continue working
with Saudi Aramco towards adding needed capacity to the international
refining system,” said Jim Gallogly,
ConocoPhillips executive vice president of refining, marketing, and
transportation. “The Yanbu project fits well
with the company’s overall strategy to invest
in projects that expand our global refining presence and provide
significant new supplies of clean products in an environmentally sound
manner.”
ConocoPhillips and Saudi Aramco are planning to form a joint-venture
company, with equal interests to own and operate the proposed new
refinery. Subject to required regulatory approvals, the parties plan to
offer an interest in the refinery to the Saudi public.
ConocoPhillips is an integrated international energy company with
interests around the world. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.
Owned by the Saudi Arabian Government, Saudi Aramco is a
fully-integrated, global petroleum enterprise, and a world leader in
exploration and producing, refining, distribution, shipping and
marketing. The company manages proven reserves of 260 billion barrels of
oil, the largest of any company in the world, and manages the
fourth-largest gas reserves in the world.
Additional information about Saudi Aramco can be found on the following
Web site: www.saudiaramco.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE "SAFE HARBOR" PROVISIONS
OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements
that contain projections about our revenues, income, earnings and other
financial items, our plans and objectives for the future, future
economic performance, or other projections or estimates about our
assumptions relating to these types of statements. These statements
usually relate to future events and anticipated revenues, earnings,
business strategies, competitive position or other aspects of our
operations or operating results. In many cases you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate,"
"estimate," "believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan,"
"potential," "predict," "should," "will," "expect," "objective,"
"projection," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook," "effort,"
"target" and other similar words. However, the absence of these words
does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. The
forward-looking statements are based on the expectations, estimates and
projections of Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips about their respective
businesses and the petroleum industry in general on the date this
statement was released. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions
that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking
statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not
prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ
materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking
statements. Economic, business, competitive and regulatory factors that
may affect ConocoPhillips' business are generally as set forth in
ConocoPhillips' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). Unless legally required, ConocoPhillips undertakes no obligation
(and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
