Motiva Enterprises, wholly owned by affiliates of Saudi Aramco, has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) – said to be worth between $8-10 billion – with TechnipFMC and Honeywell UOP to study potential petrochemical projects in the US using each company’s technology.

The signing ceremony coincided with the official visit to the US by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The multi-billion dollar investments in ethylene and aromatics production would reportedly mark the Saudi state-owned oil group’s entry into US petrochemicals.

“These agreements signal our plans for expansion into petrochemicals,” said Brian Coffman, Motiva’s president and CEO.

One of the MoUs paves the way to evaluate the use of TechnipFMC’s mixed-feed ethylene technologies for a cracker in the US. The second MoU enables Motiva to examine the use of Honeywell UOP’s aromatics extraction and production technologies for benzene and PX for a potential complex on the US Gulf Coast.

Final investment decisions on the projects are not expected to be made until 2019, and, Motiva said, will depend on strong economics, competitive incentives and regulatory support.

Aramco took full ownership of Motiva’s 600,000 bbl/d refinery in Port Arthur, Texas – the largest in the US – in May 2017. The facility was formerly part of a 50:50 joint venture between Aramco and Shell.

After the deal’s final closing, Aramco said it plans to invest $18 billion in Motiva over the next five years to increase refining capacity and expand into chemicals.