Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • SABIC set to open new innovation facilities


SABIC set to open new innovation facilities

Updated 28 January 2013
AN
Follow

SABIC set to open new innovation facilities

Updated 28 January 2013
AN

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation will launch four new state-of-the-art technology and innovation facilities in 2013, two in Saudi Arabia and one each in India and China, bringing the total number of its research facilities around the world to 18.
The four new centers represent a strategic investment of around half a billion US dollars to continuously improve technology, applications and solutions and meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated marketplace, as well as address a wide variety of sustainability issues.
Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, said that by continuing to invest in technology and innovation, SABIC is driving ingenuity forward to meet specific needs of customers as well as society.
“These four new facilities will further empower our global technology and innovation centers to build on their innovative systems to develop new technologies, improve manufacturing processes, and contribute to a sustainable environment for our communities.”
The two centers in Saudi Arabia are the Corporate Research & Innovation Center (CRI) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, near Jeddah, and the other, the SABIC Plastic Applications Development Center (SPADC) in Riyadh Techno Valley at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh.
Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC executive vice president, technology and innovation, said the CRI, scheduled for an April opening, “will seek to exchange experience and knowledge between the researchers at SABIC and KAUST, opening access to new technical competencies, blending academia with industry, tapping into new inventions made by academia, sourcing top talent and fresh ideas, and developing a community of excellence in upstream research.”
The SPADC, which is set to open in the second quarter of the year, aims to develop new applications and products that support SABIC’s business growth. Located adjacent to the Saudi Arabia’s largest university, King Saud University, it will enable SABIC to build closer links between academia and the industrial research community, Occhiello said.
The SPADC aims to be the center of excellence for automotive, packaging, consumer, construction, signage, and compounding. It will work closely with SABIC’s other Technology and Innovation centers to achieve set targets, including training customers and employees.
The center will enable Saudi Arabia to enter advanced industrial fields, and support the National Industrial Clusters Development Program to develop industries such as packaging, automotive and machinery.
It will help develop new plastics applications and extend technical support to local and international customers in various fields, including polymers, elastomers and specialty products.
“These new centers in Saudi Arabia are already creating around 150 professional jobs, and are a part of our plans to significantly boost research and technology in Saudi Arabia,” Occhiello said.
The Bangalore research center is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2013.
The center in Shanghai will open in the third quarter of 2013.

“Bangalore and Shanghai centers, which will host around 500 professionals, are an indication of SABIC’s commitment to be the technology partner of choice for Asian partners as well as the employer of choice for the best talent from the region,” Occhiello said.

Oil prices rise sharply after attacks in Middle East disrupt global energy supply

Updated 02 March 2026
AP
Follow

Oil prices rise sharply after attacks in Middle East disrupt global energy supply

  • Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt.
  • Attacks throughout the region have restricted countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world
Updated 02 March 2026
AP

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose sharply Monday as US and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.
Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, have restricted countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world. Prolonged attacks would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.
West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $72 a barrel early Monday, up around 7.3 percent from its trading price of about $67 on Friday, according to data from CME group.
A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $78.55 per barrel early Monday, according to FactSet, up 7.8 percent from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday, which had been a seven-month high at the time.
Higher global energy prices could lead to consumers paying more for gasoline at the pump and shelling out more for groceries and other goods, at a time when many are already feeling the impacts of elevated inflation.
Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil per day — about 20 percent of the world’s oil — are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy. Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.
Iran had temporarily shut down parts of the strait in mid-February for what it said was a military drill, which led oil prices to jump about 6 percent higher in the days that followed.
Against that backdrop, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they would boost production of crude Sunday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
“Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for world trade, meaning markets are more concerned with whether barrels can move than with spare capacity on paper,” said Jorge León, Rystad’s senior vice president and head of geopolitical analysis, in an email. “If flows through the Gulf are constrained, additional production will provide limited immediate relief, making access to export routes far more important than headline output targets.”
Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.

Topics: War in Iran oil prices

Related

Business & Economy
Asian oil buyers assess stockpiles, Middle East alternatives as Iran conflict escalates
Special graphic
Middle-East
Why world powers have a major interest in keeping Strait of Hormuz open

Latest updates

US embassy in Kuwait says ‘do not come to embassy’
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill 31, wound 149: health ministry
Pakistan beefs up security in Karachi, Islamabad and Skardu as Khamenei protests kill 24
Turkiye’s trade minister says day-trip crossings halted at Iranian border
Israeli general says to intensify strikes on Lebanon

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.