S-Oil to spend 5 trillion won to build new Ulsan plant

S-Oil, South Korea’s third-largest refiner, said Wednesday that it plans to invest more than 5 trillion won ($4.4 billion) by 2023 to build a mixed-feed cracker and olefin downstream facilities.

The company said it is conducting a feasibility study into the project to expand its petrochemical business portfolio.

The steam cracker will produce 1.5 million tons of ethylene per year from naphtha and off-gas burned as fuel in the refinery.

Olefin downstream facilities will produce high value petrochemical products. The project will be undertaken in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan and will serve as a new growth engine for the region.

Earlier this year, S-Oil reached mechanical completion on the construction of a residue upgrading complex and olefin downstream complex.

The project, worth 4.8 trillion won, is designed to convert low-value residue to high-value products: gasoline and olefine downstream product. It can also make propylene oxide, which is the basic raw material of polyurethane.

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant, owns a 63.4 percent stake in S-Oil.

Yonhap