2 Dimensions International

F U J I A N R E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YR E F I N E R YF U J I A NTHE

73547araD3R1.indd 2 2/25/15 7:26 AM

Abdullah H. Al-Sabil has experience written all over his face. He has 18 years of experience with Saudi Aramco and is currently at the Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company (FREP) in Fujian, China.

FREP is currently developing a world integrated park for refining and chemi-cals manufacturing. The project is be-ing developed jointly by the Fujian Pet-rochemical Corporation, Saudi Aramco Sino Company and ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited. It was established on March 31, 2007.

“FREP announced in November 2009 the start of the commercial opera-tion of the Fujian joint venture (JV) and integrated project for refining and eth-ylene production, marking completion of construction and full operation of this international refining and chemicals project,” said Al-Sabil.

The project reflects the depth of the Sino-Saudi relationship and has opened wider horizons for cooperation between

the two nations in the petro-leum and chemicals arena. China is one of the highest growing consumers of petro-

leum and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest petroleum producer. Saudi Arabia has boosted its petroleum relationship with China through JVs and an increase in petroleum sales. Saudi crude oil exports to China account for nearly one-fourth of China’s daily needs. The FREP JV is a blend of the best that can be offered by the participating com-panies and is set to lead to new horizons of fruitful partnership and cooperation in the Fujian Province.

Al-Sabil says several agreements were signed over the last few years.

“On November 14, 2001, Fujian Pet-rochemical Corporation Limited signed with ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited and Aramco Overseas Company an agree-ment to present a joint feasibility study for the Fujian integrated petroleum products project to China’s National Planning and Development Commis-sion,” Al-Sabil said. The resulting com-pany is a JV between Sinopec Company and the Fujian provincial government.

Dimensions International 3

F U J I A N R E F I N E R Y NEW FRONTI ERS IN

TH E FA R

T H E C O M P A N Y ’ S B U R G E O N I N G

C H E M I C A L S B U S I N E S S M A R C H E S

T O W A R D R E A L I Z A T I O N O F T H E

2 0 2 0 S T R A T E G I C I N T E N T

B Y Adil A. Al-Sadiq

Xiamen offers a sense of beauty and order as it

is well-organized and designed.

73547araD3R1.indd 3 2/25/15 7:27 AM

4 Dimensions International

CONVERT ING T HE REFINERY IN TO AN IN T EGRAT ED REFINING PARK “There was no doubt that the Fujian Integrated Project and the Fujian Marketing Project will provide a good opportu-nity for partners to conduct integrated manufacturing and marketing business,” said Al-Sabil. “Cooperation in the es-tablishment of this world-class petroleum and chemicals project, in addition to managing and operating a new net-work for distribu-tion and retail pe-troleum product sale, will foster project competitive-ness and partners will earn lucrative returns,” he added.

Saudi Aramco’s participation in this project and other JVs comes in line with the Kingdom’s policy of investing in the value chain in major petroleum consumer countries, such as China.

Al-Sabil said the first FREP board convened on March 13, 2007. On June 12 of the same year, FREP’s administra-tive crew was approved to run the company and on Novem-ber 11, 2009, commissioning of all Fujian Projects’ units was announced.

COMPONEN T S OF T HE IN T EGRAT ED COMPLE XThe project consists of an integrated refinery designed to process Light Arabian crude oil with a total refining capac-ity of 240,000 barrels per day, an aromatic unit designed to produce 700 kilo tons per annum (KTA) of paraxylene (used in the making of clothes), 200 KTA of benzene and 120 KTA of toluene. The project includes chemicals facilities that will manufacture 800 KTA of polyethylene and 520 KTA of polypropylene. It will also house a complex to generate pow-er by gasification of asphalt oil.

The project has a terminal for large tankers and another for exporting products across China. It has 2,150 employ-ees, including management, personnel, multidiscipline engi-

neers, maintenance operators and others. Many of Saudi Ar-amco’s employees have been involved in managing the proj-ect since its construction.

T ECHNICAL SUPPORT AND PL ANNINGIn May 2012, Salih Al-Zaid moved to work in FREP as gen-eral manager of the Technical and Planning Department, where he works with operation engineers and planning repre-

sentatives who, using models, are responsi-ble for determining the amount of crude oil the refinery will buy based on production increas-es or reductions.

Al-Zaid also over-sees the project’s capi-tal and product quality

center. In IT systems, business analysts de-termine the performance score of employ-ees and the company.

Al-Zaid said the plant recently under-went a huge expansion to increase ole-fins (aromatics) unit production from 800 KTA to 1,100 KTA.

REFINERY E XPANSION“We are currently discharging our duties toward the expansion of the Fujian re-fining plant,” said Noor Ad-Din Yousif, general manager of Crude Purchases and Contracts. “My department is respon-sible for many functional aspects of this expansion. I have 60 Chinese employees, and they are all busy with the expansion project,” he said.

Yousif is also responsible for purchas-ing materials, contracts and matters di-rectly related to the practical and profes-sional aspects of the project, whether in

Abdullah H. Al-Sabil Salih Al-Zaid Noor Ad-Din Yousif Ji Hubing

The coastal Fujian Province is the location of FREP and the

Xiamen Branch of Aramco Asia-China.

73547araD3R1.indd 4 2/25/15 7:37 AM

Dimensions International 5

the field of engi-neering, operation or maintenance, in addition to admin-istrative and tech-nical offices.

ONE T E AM FORT HE SAME GOAL Ji Hubing, gener-al manager of the Chemical Process-ing Department,

is responsible for the decommissioning of old units and the startup of new units for the expansion. He has worked for the company since 2007.

“I am very optimistic about work development in the chemical field,” Hubing said. “Results so far are very promising, especially in the coming 10 years. We are in the process of starting up some new high productivity units, which will help in providing refined and chemicals prod-ucts that are marketed in China.”

When asked about the partnership with Saudi Aramco and its impact on work progress and productivity, Hubing said, “No doubt our partnership with Saudi Aramco, the leading oil production and export company, has proven its viability, and it is a positive thing to learn from Saudi Ar-amco’s work culture — especially as we are working in this refinery and this company as one team, each of us comple-menting the other to achieve one goal.

“We move forward together, confident of our expertise, technology and future vision toward the chemicals indus-

try and market not in China alone, but throughout the Far East,” he added.

COMMUNIT Y OU T RE ACH IN FUJIANThe company has established ties with the local communitythrough outreach activities. School students visit the proj-ect to learn about the nature of its work and learn about the products being marketed in various Chinese provinces. The company also organizes environmental campaigns to clean beaches and distributes books to raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment.

AbdulWahab A. Al-Khaldi

SALE OF THE FIRST POLY MER LIF TING

Aramco Asia is taking a leading role in this effort by marketing a wide variety of chemicals products in the region, especially polyolefins and aromatics. China was identified as a major market for polyolefins marketing operations with Aramco Asia already having a foot in the market through FREP — a JV with the Fujian Province Government, Sinopec and ExxonMobil; and in January 2013, Aramco Asia sold the first lifting of polymers produced by FREP.

The refinery cuts an impressive vision on the Fujian landscape.

73547araD3R1.indd 5 2/25/15 7:38 AM

6 Dimensions International

Located in Xiamen are the new offices of Aramco AsiaChemical. Xiamen was selected as one of China’s cleanest cities and one of the country’s 10 most attractive cities for tourists and business in 2012.

Xiamen is proud of having one of the most vital econo-mies on China’s Eastern Coast. Xiamen intends to estab-lish itself as a prosperous center of shipping, supply, finance, trade, tourism, conferences, exhibitions, culture and educa-tion. Its port is considered one of China’s 10 largest ports and one of eight large container docks. It ranks 22nd amongthe 100 largest ports in the world.

FROM WASHING T ON, D.C. , T O XIAMENThe chemicals business office in Xiamen is managed by Ab-dulWahab A. Al-Khaldi.

“The Xiamen branch’s goals are to build skills and gain experience to enable Saudi Aramco to engage in the chemi-cal business and markets, improve FREP’s production mar-gins by working with the refinery to push production limits, improve product quality and gain acceptance in the Chinese markets,” Al-Khaldi said.

When asked about Aramco Asia-China’s targeted markets he replied: “Targeted markets are Fujian Province, Guan-dong Province, East China Province and North China Prov-ince. Sales channels to access these markets will be through distribution operations or direct sale to clients.”

Al-Khaldi added: “Xiamen Branch has had many achievements. We have selected an excellent location for the company, and the office was completely renovated. We also managed to hire multiple skilled employees, install reli-able systems, develop the SAP system for Chemicals, select targeted markets and qualified distributors for transport-ing products; determine contract logistics to regulate sales, distribution and purchase operations, among others. We also achieved our most important goal when we started our product sales early in January 2013.”

CHEMICALS ARE SAUDI ARAMCO’S ST RAT EGY“I started working for the company in August 2007,”said Jimi Lu, manager of the Products Planning and Sup-ply Chain. “We were supporting marketing procedures and making a lot of effort to establish the office. Our work is supporting the marketing of polyethylene in the Far East, namely Japan, South Korea, China and Indonesia.”

Before joining Aramco Asia-China’s Xiamen Branch, Mi-chael Shi, manager of Chemicals Operations, worked for five years in the Dow Chemical Company in Shanghai. He now manages the sale of FREP’s products in Kuwandong, China’s largest plastic industrial area, which is also close to Taiwan.

When asked about the relationship of the sales depart-ment with Chinese markets, he said that the department collects all available information about markets, their needs, prices and information about clients, as well.

Michael ShiAbdulrahman Al-Amir (left) and Ziyad Al-Osylan (right)Jimi Lu

MARK ETING POLYOLEFINS

The Xiamen office is in the Bargon Center in Xiamen, China — a beautiful city in Fujian Province known for its business and tourism. The office serves two major purposes. The first is to be a center in China for chemicals marketing and sales. The office recently expanded its operations to include all sale transactions to market Aramco Asia’s share of polyolefins produced by FREP. The project produces polyolefins, which include 400 kilo tons per annum (KTA) of linear low-density polyethylene and 400 KTA high-density polyethylene.

The second purpose of the office is to provide support to employees assigned to the FREP.

JOURNE Y T O XIAMEN

73547araD3R1.indd 6 2/25/15 7:38 AM

Dimensions International 7

DE VELOPING QUALIFIED YOU T HS FOR CHEMICAL BUSINESSESWorking in the Chemical Businesses office in Xiamen aretwo recently graduated Saudi employees. Abdulrahman Al-Amir graduated from New Haven University, majoring in chemical engineering. Ziyad Al-Osylan, a Missouri Uni-versity graduate, also majored in chemical engineering. Al-Amir and Al-Osylan work in Saudi Aramco’s Chemicals Business Coordination & Support Department.

They joined the Xiamen office as part of a two-year developmental program for young people working in the chemicals field. Both will work with the team in Xiamen to benefit from the expertise of Saudi and Chinese employ-ees and sharpen their skills as well as enhance their un-derstanding about FREP’s chemicals production, sales and marketing.

XIAMEN PUBLIC AFFAIRS COORDINATORJanet Gu is the public affairs coordinator in the Xiamen of-fice. She joined the company in 2007 and recalls that in 2008 there were only 12 local employees and 20 Saudi employees.

In 2009, actual work began in the JV and receiving guests became possible. In that year alone, they received about 20 Saudi Aramco officials from different manage-rial levels. Gu’s job is broad and ranges from management of company work licenses and government communications through to public relations activities.

Raid M. Tawili is no stranger to China. He arrived in Xiamen in August 1999 to begin his studies as one of the first Saudi Aramco sponsored students sent to China. After studying language in Xiamen, he moved on to Beijing where he joined a college program and graduated in 2006.

“When the Fujian Project started production, I was sent there to work on an assignment with the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), which was selling Saudi Aramco’s project products in South China,” said Tawili. “I remained working with SAB-IC until March 2012 and then moved to the Aramco Asia office in Beijing on a work assignment related to writing and developing procedures and regulations

to plan and coordinate sale operations and others.” Tawili is now the sales manager in Fujian Province.

FROM SCHOOL T O WORK IN CHINAAlso working in the Xiamen office is Humud J. Al-Hanifi,who is in charge of product development, clients and qual-ity. He said his job focuses on ensuring that the company’s products are of high quality and meet Chinese standards and specifications.

“One of our tasks is to avoid flaws in the production pro-cess and to improve our products as required. This is in ad-dition to my work as a representative of the JV management in Beijing. I go to FREP to hold meetings and discuss expan-sion in the refinery,” he said.

Al-Hanifi came to China as a student in 1999 under the College Degree Program for Non-Employees. He majored in chemical engineering and graduated in 2006. He returned to the Kingdom and worked in Ras Tanura for five years before heading to Xiamen.

Through this big and amazing joint venture project in China and other similar projects in Saudi Arabia and other Asian countries, Saudi Aramco is steadily heading the pet-rochemical business in different areas in the world until it achieves its goal of being the world leader in this industry. For that reason, Saudi Aramco has gone the extra mile in training its young people to professionally handle the petro-chemical business and marketing in that part of the world.

Saudi Aramco’s move into the chemical markets in the Kingdom and around the

world, particularly in China and other Asian countries, is considered one of

the major components of the company’s Accelerated Transformation Program.

Humud J. Al-HanifiJanet Gu Raid M. Tawili

COLLEGE AND WORK

73547araD3R1.indd 7 2/25/15 7:39 AM