Aramco Refinery With Sinopec to Start 2014, Al-Falih Says

Khalid al-Falih, head of Saudi Arabia's state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said a joint-venture refinery with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (600028) will begin production in 2014.

The Yasref plant will cost $8.5 billion to $10 billion, and financing hasn't been finalized yet, al-Falih said. The project is the fourth venture between Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, as the companies are called, al-Falih said.

Saudi Aramco's refining capacity will reach 8 million barrels a day over the next decade, with most additional capacity planned in China, al-Falih said. The refinery, which will process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude a day, will create 1,200 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs, he said.