S-Oil (S-Oil(010950)) said on the 18th that the Shaheen project, now under construction with a target of beginning commercial operations next year, could help strengthen the global competitiveness of Korea's petrochemical industry.
Although the domestic petrochemical sector is suffering from oversupply and worsening profitability, the company's position is to drive a shift toward a high value-added industry through the Shaheen project, which is equipped with new technology and high-efficiency facilities.
According to S-Oil, the Shaheen project is being built as a production base with cost competitiveness, energy efficiency, and flexibility in feedstock use. In particular, TC2C technology, which converts low value-added fractions from crude oil and refining processes into petrochemical feedstock, will be applied commercially for the first time in the world.
By combining high-efficiency facilities with process optimization technology, the project has improved feedstock and energy efficiency, and additional design enhancements can cut carbon emissions by more than 20% from the original design. It can use a wide range of feedstocks, lowering dependence on any specific feedstock and allowing flexible management of the feedstock slate.
Among the basic olefins such as ethylene and propylene produced by the Shaheen project, volumes supplied externally are slated to be delivered to downstream (final product manufacturing) companies within the Ulsan National Industrial Complex through spur pipeline networks.
S-Oil said a competitive base for producing basic olefins is a key element that supports the industry's transition to higher value-added products. If global-level cost competitiveness is not secured at the basic olefin stage, even high value-added specialty products will struggle to secure price competitiveness in end markets.
In countries such as China and those in the Middle East, large-scale investments continue in integrated refining-petrochemical facilities, including crude oil-to-chemicals (COTC) projects that convert crude directly into petrochemical feedstock.
S-Oil also stressed that restructuring in the petrochemical business should proceed in a direction that enhances competitiveness across the industry by reducing excess capacity while investing in competitive facilities, transitioning to low-carbon operations, shifting to higher value-added products, and strengthening supply chain resilience.
A S-Oil official said, "The Shaheen project is a long-term investment aligned with the government's sustained push to strengthen industrial competitiveness and secure advanced, high-efficiency facilities," adding, "Through the project's successful completion and stable operations, we will make practical contributions to ensuring Korea's petrochemical industry secures sustainable competitiveness in the global market."