Petro Rabigh had delayed the phase 2 project and is planning to start up all the remaining units by Q2 2017. Initially the company had planned to start the units by end 2016.

The delay in these plants is due to the construction market challenges.

To feed the upcoming units, Petro Rabigh raised the gas processing capacities of its existing cracker by 30 MMcf/d to 125 MMcf/d. The cracker can now produce 1.6 million mt/year of ethylene, up from 1.3 million mt/year, and is currently functional.

Rabigh 2 will also use 3 million mt/year of naphtha produced at an integrated 400,000 b/d refinery to make aromatics, including 1.34 million mt/year of paraxylene and 424,000 mt/year of benzene besides several other downstream products. The company has already started up cumene and phenol plants that are a part of the phase 2 project.

The company's phase one unit -- Rabigh 1 -- can produce 300,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene, 600,000 mt/year of linear low density polyethylene unit, 600,000 mt/year of polypropylene unit, 700,000 mt/year of monoethylene glycol and 200,000 mt/year of propylene oxide.