Published on March 7, 2018

Russian petrochemical group Sibur is planning with Saudi Aramco to set up a venture to produce synthetic rubber.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have forged closer ties in the past two years as part of efforts to prop up oil prices by curbing output. They are growing cooperation between OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest non-OPEC oil exporter.

As per report, the two companies signed a cooperation memorandum last year when Saudi King Salman visited Russia but so far have not disclosed project details.

Source said that  Sibur was looking to export its synthetic rubber technology because of low feedstock availability in Russia and low domestic demand growth.

Good feedstock availability in Saudi Arabia and growing Asian markets could make the project attractive. The venture would likely involve other companies as it would require technologies which Sibur or Aramco do not possess.