Hyundai E&C begins petrochemical project

Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering have officially embarked on a project to build the largest petrochemical facilities to date in the South Korean city of Ulsan.

The plan, dubbed “the Shaheen Project,” is the construction of high value-added petrochemical production facilities in which South Korean oil refiner S-Oil has invested a whopping 9.3 trillion won ($7 billion). It is the largest investment made by Aramco -- a Saudi Arabian state-operated oil and gas company and S-Oil’s biggest stakeholder -- in Korea.

Under the project, high-value petrochemical products such as high-density and linear low-density polyethylene will be produced in large-scale facilities, Hyundai E&C said. One major facility includes a steam cracker complex, which produces ethylene, an essential raw material for petrochemical products.

The facilities will enable S-Oil to increase the portion of petrochemicals business among other portfolios from 12 percent to 25 percent.

“With the anticipated success of the Shaheen Project, we will secure a stronger foothold in the petrochemical plant business,” Hyundai E&C said in a statement.

It is set to be the biggest of its kind in the world and the first to incorporate a process developed by Aramco that converts low-value crude into value-added raw materials called thermal crude-to-chemicals technology.

The project is set to be completed in 2026.

Hyundai Engineering, Lotte Engineering & Construction, and DL E&C will join Hyundai E&C as its main partners for construction.

The project will be carried out by the collaborators in three packages, according to Hyundai E&C. The first package will involve building the steam cracker complex and TC2C equipment. The second package will involve installation of high-density chemical production plants, and tanks will be built during the third package.