SAUDI ARABIA - Al Jubail Petrochemical Co. (Kemya).

The 50-50 ExxonMobil-SABIC complex began in 1984 to produce 615,000 t/y of LLDPE and 300,000 t/y of HDPE. A flexible 700,000 t/y ethylene steamcracker, which can use up to 1m t/y of propane, raising LLDPE capacity by 250,000 t/y, and a new 218,000 t/y LDPE unit (Saudi Arabia's first high-pressure plant based on ExxonMobil process), came on stream in late November 2000 and cost about $450m.

In March 2003 SABIC appealed a US court decision that it pay ExxonMobil $416.8m in damages after the Delaware State Supreme Court upheld the major's claim that the Saudi company had overcharged licencing fees for the plants of Yanpet and Kemya. The dispute began in 1998 when SABIC filed an action with the New Jersey Federal Court on behalf of the group and Kemya, seeking to enforce alleged promises relating to patent ownership rights made by ExxonMobil in a service agreement with Kemya. SABIC wants a review of the verdict through the appeal and post-trial procedures.