Shortly after
entering the third millennium, Saudi Aramco began studying the future prospects
of the oil refinery currently located on 24 million square meters, located 165
kilometers north of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. The initial idea was limited
to developing the existing refinery, but this idea was soon developed, and
Saudi Aramco began to explore other opportunities and possibilities.
The strategic
location of Rabigh Refinery overlooks the western coast of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, which allows easy access to European and Asian markets through the port
of the refinery in deep waters. The management of "Saudi Aramco"
company spotted a suitable opportunity to enter a new field in Rabigh.
At that time, Saudi
Aramco did not operate any petrochemical plants. The company realized that the
success of its promising future project requires advanced technologies and
global expertise in marketing petrochemical products, which was provided by
Sumitomo Chemical, one of the leading chemical companies in the world. Thus,
Petro Rabigh was born.