Japanese petroleum company JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy has announced it will explore the feasibility of building an ethylidene norbornene (ENB) plant at the proposed Saudi Aramco/Total joint-venture Amiral complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Proposed capacity of the new unit is 23,000 t/y and commercial operation is expected to start in the late 2020s. Feedstock would be supplied by the Amiral petrochemical complex, which will be centered on a mixed-feed cracker producing 1.5 million t/y of ethylene along with downstream units.

Aramco and Total signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2018 to build the complex. Last October, US contractor McDermott International won a major contract to supply a suite of licenses, basic engineering and other services for the project.

For JXTG, the Saudi plant would be its third production site for ENB, adding to locations in Japan and the US. As of April 2020, the company produces 22,000 t/y in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan, and 46,000 t/y, split between two lines, at Pasadena, Texas, USA.

According to the Minato-headquartered firm, demand for ENB is expected to be firm and increasing in the mid and long term. The ethylene-based compound is used to make ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), a synthetic rubber that is used primarily in the automotive and construction industries.