Facilities producing around 10% of global ethylene capacity are threatened by feedstock disruption after the weekend’s attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil distribution infrastructure and the subsequent closure of 5.7m bbl/day of refinery capacity. The attack on 14 September damaged the Abqaiq and Khurais crude oil processing installations which supply oil to Saudi Arabia’s three main petrochemical sites.Some refineries feeding petrochemical sites have been shut, cutting supplies to Jubail in the east and Rabigh and Yanbu on the west, facilities which are connected by an oil and natural gas liquids pipeline across the country.The sites also represent 9.9% of global ethylene capacity. Saudi Kayan pegged its own feedstock supply decline to 50%; Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) at about 30%; Advance Petrochemical Co at about 40%; Sadara Chemical Co at 16%; Sahara International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) at about 40%; and the National Industrialization Co (Tasnee) at about 41%.
