Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Bonsoir.
Let me first thank Patrick Pouyanné and his team for travelling from France to be with us.
With these Agreements, I hope that new generations from both our countries will come to appreciate the amazing work we are doing here with our world-class, long-term partner Total.
In doing so, they will deepen the ties between us at the level that matters most – on the ground, shoulder-to-shoulder, getting the job done.
Of course, until today, our SATORP refinery and petrochemical complex in Jubail has been the flagship of our “one plant; one team” ethos.
What was just an idea back in 2005 is now truly one of the wonders of the petroleum and petrochemical industry.
It has an excellent record on safety, quality, efficiency, and environmental protection.
And it is a significant economic multiplier, for Jubail and the Eastern Province more broadly – for instance Saudization is over 70%.
These same strategic goals are driving Project Amiral… but I believe the benefits will be even greater.
Because Amiral accelerates our broader downstream strategy of becoming a global leader in refining and marketing, base lube oils, and chemicals.
In fact, that strategy was further validated just last Friday in an IEA report which predicted that petrochemicals are “set to account for more than a third of the growth in oil demand to 2030, and nearly half to 2050.”
So we are integrating our wholly-owned and joint venture refineries in order to increase the conversion of low-cost feedstock into higher value chemicals.
And where better to start than by integrating a world-class petrochemical complex with our world-class SATORP refinery next door?
Amiral also illustrates the even greater weight we place on economic multipliers thanks to Saudi Vision 2030.
With an overall investment of over 9 billion dollars, we are confident that the Amiral portfolio will deliver a significant return.
It will produce 2.7 million metric tons of high value chemicals, including the first mixed feed cracker to be integrated with a refinery anywhere in the Gulf region.
In turn, that will introduce about 10 new chemical products to the Kingdom (and the technologies used to produce them), for use industries as diverse as medical, construction, and automotive;
And we project that 8,000 local, direct and indirect jobs will be created, along with a specialized training center, as this incredible chemicals cluster develops.
In other words, today also shows our collective commitment to the Kingdom's long-term economic future, and our willingness to back it with investments on megaprojects like SATORP and Amiral.
And it shows the incredible win-win opportunities that are opening up across the Kingdom for astute global investors like Total who commit for the long-term.
Finally, there are several people I would like to thank.
The approval of the Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, under the leadership of His Excellency Khalid Al-Falih, was essential.
We are also grateful to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu' for their support.
But most of all I want to thank the teams from Total and Saudi Aramco. They have shown why the compatibility, trust, and values that our two great companies share is so important to our success. And they are truly the people who have made today possible.
Ladies and Gentlemen, SATORP may have set the bar high. But Project Amiral is raising it to new heights. It is a quantum leap for Saudi Aramco's downstream strategy.
And it is no less a leap for our support of Vision 2030, and our incredible partnership with Total.
Thank you.