This week Aramco, US gas firm Air Products and Saudi private developer Acwa Power announced a plan for an $11.5bn JV to operate the IGCC and air separation unit. This was effectively a re-announcement of a plan first announced last year (MEES, 5 October 2018). However, this time equity stakes are provided: Air Products 46%, Acwa 25%, Aramco 20% and Air Products Qudra 9%. The latter is a joint venture between Air Products and Acwa’s Arabia Qudra investment platform.
The refinery and power plant are central to plans for the Jazan Economic City, which is intended to attract a number of industrial projects including petchems (MEES, 5 October 2018). While Riyadh hopes the economic city will bring prosperity to a remote and underdeveloped region, the proximity of the complex to the border with Yemen is also bringing unwanted attention from Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have attacked infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and tankers passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait (MEES, 17 May). (CONTINUED - 153 WORDS)