Korea's S-OIL to Invest 5 Tril. Won in Stage Two of Its Petrochemical Project by 2023

S-OIL, one of South Korea's four refineries, will make a large-scale investment of 5 trillion won (US$ 4.16 billion) by 2023 in the second stage of its petrochemical project. S-OIL expects to create 2.7 million jobs per year through this investment, which is part of Vision 2025, which aims to turn itself into a comprehensive energy chemical company.

The investment plan, announced on August 22, is pushed forward as part of the company’s move to expand its business portfolio.

Currently, S-OIL is conducting a feasibility study on a steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year and olefin downstream facilities.

S-OIL’s steam cracker is a facility for producing ethylene and other petrochemical raw materials by injecting naphtha and by-product gas produced during a crude refining process as raw materials, and has advantages in raw material procurement and cost competitiveness.

In addition, the company plans to increase production of high value-added petrochemical products such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) by building olefin downstream facilities.

S-OIL purchased about 400,000 square meters of land from Hyundai Heavy Industries near its factory in Ulsan city. If this project is carried out as planned, it will have outstanding competitiveness in terms of economic feasibility and operational efficiency by having a single large-scale facility. S-OIL expects to create 2.7 million jobs per year, recruit 400 regular employees, boost the construction industry, and increase exports.

"The second-stage petrochemical project will provide the company with a new growth engine, as the first stage project did,” said an S-OIL official. In the first stage, the company invested about 4.8 trillion won in building a residue upgrading complex (RUC) and an olefin downstream complex (ODC). "We expect to strengthen the company's sustainable growth base by diversifying its business portfolio, enhancing competitiveness, and creating a stable profit making structure.”

After completing the project, S-OIL will actively respond to rapid changes in the business environment caused by shale oil and electric vehicles. Through this, the company plans to move closer to Vision 2025, which aims to become a comprehensive energy chemical company with global competitiveness.