DUBAI: Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday said it has completed the divestment of its 50 percent ownership in a petrochemicals joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) acquired the Anglo-Dutch energy major’s interest in SADAF, the petrochemical venture with Shell Arabia, for $820 million following anti-trust filings in relevant countries and regulatory approval from the kingdom, the company said.
“This step will allow Shell to focus its downstream activities and make selective investments to support the growth of its global chemicals business,” Shell said in a statement.
“Completion of this deal shows the clear momentum behind Shell’s global, value-driven $30 billion divestment program,” Shell said, while adding that the transaction did not affect the company’s other interests in Saudi Arabia.
Shell jointly operates with Saudi Aramco a crude oil refinery in Jubail.

SADAF was established in 1980 and operates six petrochemical plants with total annual output of over 4 million tons of chemicals including ethylene, methyl tert-butyl ether and styrene.

SABIC and Shell in 2014 decided against the expansion of SADAF’s operations, which would have polyols, propylene oxide and styrene monomer to the production line, after discouraging results feasibility studies.