The petrochemical steam cracker, located in S-Oil’s existing site in South Korea’s industrial city of Ulsan, is one of the biggest international downstream investments of Saudi Aramco.

South Korean President Yoon and Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

“Shaheen is among Aramco’s biggest international downstream investments, representing a significant and sizeable step forward in our liquids-to-chemicals expansion and another major milestone in further strengthening our presence in Korea,” Nasser said.

Shaheen is Aramco’s biggest investment in South Korea to date and is expected to be one of the largest integrated steam crackers in the world. It is also the first major commercial deployment of Aramco’s thermal crude to chemicals technology, that was developed in collaboration with Lummus Technology.

Aramco announced the project in November last year. The steam cracker will process crude byproducts, including naptha and off-gas, to produce ethylene, which is used in the manufacture of everyday items.

The Shaheen complex is also expected to produce other basic chemicals, including propylene and butadiene.

Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Aramco senior vice president of downstream, said in November that the Shaheen project aspires to be a gamechanger not only for S-Oil in South Korea, but also for Aramco’s global chemicals business.