Exxon, SABIC Sign Deals For Joint Rubber Plant

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Exxon Mobil Chemical signed engineering and licensing deals for their joint synthetic rubber project in Saudi Arabia, SABIC said on Sunday.

U.S. firm Jacobs Engineering and Japan's Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding will carry out front-end engineering and design (FEED) work for the process units of the Kemya project at Jubail on the Gulf coast, SABIC said in a statement.

Fluor Transworld Services will execute the FEED for the associated support facilities, the statement said.

In a separate statement, SABIC said it signed two deals with Continental Carbon for a technology licence and marketing of the carbon black produced at the planned plant.

SABIC did not give a value for the contracts nor provided a cost figure for the project, although an executive from Exxon Mobil Chemical has said it would cost $5 billion.

The capacity of the project is more than 400,000 tons per year of carbon black, rubber and synthetic polymers for domestic and international sales.

SABIC did not say when the FEED work would be completed.