The CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Yousef al-Benyan, confirmed in a statement to Al-Sharq news channel that SABIC will collaborate with Aramco on a plan to convert 3 million barrels of oil into manufacturing industries by 2030. Al-Benyan stated that SABIC is prepared, through its partnership with Aramco, to expand in the manufacturing sector in general, and in petrochemicals specifically, adding, "We are ready for any developments and any expansions."
Last Tuesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed that the Kingdom aims, through Aramco, to convert 3 million barrels for manufacturing industries by 2030, indicating that Saudi Arabia wants to maximize benefits from everything within it, including the oil sector.
Al-Benyan referred to accounting adjustments in the second and third quarters of 2020 amounting to 97 million riyals related to Aramco's acquisition of SABIC and changes in accounting standards, adding that "they were adjusted in the first quarter of 2021" (the dollar equals 3.75 riyals).
Earlier on Thursday, SABIC announced its results for the first quarter of the current year, achieving a net profit after zakat and taxes of 4.86 billion riyals in Q1 2021, compared to losses of over 1 billion riyals in the same period of 2020. The petrochemical giant attributed its net profit in the current quarter to an increase in average selling prices of its products, noting that in Q1 2020, provisions for the impairment of some capital and financial assets were recorded at 1.1 billion riyals.
