RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait will lead the Middle East with new ‘mega’ petrochemicals projects after a recent slowdown, Arab News quoted the CEO of Arab Petroleum Investments Corp, known as APICORP, told S&P Global Platts.

Most of the mega projects have ended and there is a new cycle now, according to Ahmed Ali Attiga.

“Saudi Arabia has huge plans” while “Kuwait is trying to strengthen their petrochem industry downstream,” he said on the sidelines of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association meeting in Dubai.

The UAE will also be part of the new projects, Attiga added. “You’re going to see a lot,” he said.

The petrochemical sector will see an evolution in the next phase toward more investments, with the Middle East remaining the main source for the crude oil and natural gas feed stocks of the industry, Attiga told the conference.

The Gulf region attracted $9.4 billion in mega petrochemicals projects in 2020, up 14.3 per cent from a year earlier but still below levels of the last decade, GPCA secretary general Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun told the conference.

Gulf petrochemicals production rose 1.2 per cent in 2020, against a 2.6 per cent drop globally, while the region’s capacity utilisation was 93.3 per cent against 78.8 per cent globally, he said.

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