Total to Take a Final Investment Decision on the Jubail Refinery Project Within the Next Two Months

摘要

"We have pulled out of exploration in Saudi Arabia,so this is a project that interests us a lot," said a spokeswoman for the French company Total,referring to the project of Jubail Refinery Company,a joint venture between Total and Saudi Aramco."We will take a decision this year,before the end of the first half," added the spokeswoman,as quoted by Reuters.That period corresponds to the time needed to complete FEED (front-end engineering and design) studies,for which the contract was awarded to Technip Italy and which should determine the scope of work and the cost of the planned 400,000-b/d refinery,among other things.The project was originally expected to cost 6.4 billion,but the estimated cost has now risen to around 10 billion,if not 12 billion,according to a senior executive of Saudi Aramco quoted by the local newspaper Al Watan in September (AOG,1 Oct.,2007).Total thinks the final cost will be higher than the initial estimate,but the company's spokeswoman declined to make any comment.