In an attempt to raise Saudi energy output, the government has decided to issue for the first time a tender for the construction of a 200-megawatts electricity generating station in the Jubail industrial zone. The Saudi Petrochemical Company (Sadaf) is expected to award the Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) project to a private sector company, as early as the first quarter of 2002.
The two leading consortium bidders are the American CMS Company paired with the Saudi Al-Zamil Group and the American Enron Firm cooperating with the Saudi Zeinal Group, reported Al-Watan.
Saudi electrical consumption is expected to jump from 25,000 megawatts to 66,000 megawatts over the next 20 years. The Kingdom estimates that it will need 340 billion Saudi riyals ($90.65 billion) worth of investments in order to keep up with this growth rate.
SADAF, a subsidiary of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), is half owned by Shell. Founded in 1985, the company’s products include Ethylene, Styrene, Caustic Soda, MTBE, EDC and Crude Industrial Ethanol.
Founded in 1976, SABIC is an international petrochemicals manufacturer headquartered in Riyadh. They are the Middle East's largest non-oil industrial company producing basic chemicals, intermediates, polymers, fertilizers and metals.
SABIC is 70 percent owned by the Saudi Government, while the rest of its shares are held by the private sector. Private sector shareholders are either Saudi nationals, or citizens of the other five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
