SATORP has successfully converted used cooking oil into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – a first for the MENA region.

Th company, which is a joint venture between Aramco and TotalEnergies, used coprocessing to turn the oil into International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC+) SAF.

According to SATORP, SAF produced from used cooking oil reduces CO2 emissions by at least 80% on average over the entire lifecycle, compared with its fossil equivalent.

Francois Good, senior vice president, refining and petrochemicals Africa Middle East and Asia at TotalEnergies, said, “This project at SATORP is part of TotalEnergies’ aim to produce 1.5 million tons per year of SAF by 2030. Sustainable aviation fuel is essential to reducing the CO2 emissions of air transport, and its development is fully aligned with the Company’s climate ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”

The Saudi Aramco TotalEnergies Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), the first such joint venture between the two energy companies, was established in June 2008 to build a refining and petrochemical complex in Jubail II industrial city. The refinery capacity has increased from 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil at its start-up in 2014 to 460,000 bpd today.

Image: Adobe Stock
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