Aramco’s Hapco refinery takes first crude as 2027 kickoff approaches

Aramco’s China mega-refinery takes its first Saudi crude: Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners have received the first Arabian crude shipment at their Hapco refining and petrochemical complex in Liaoning province, and commercial operations could begin in 1Q 2027, Bloomberg reports. The cargo arrived aboard the Kassab after loading at Saudi Juaymah port. The complex pairs a 300k bbl/d refinery with a capacity of around 1.6 mn tons of ethylene and 2 mn tons of paraxylene annually.

Aramco will supply most of the crude the refinery runs: The firm holds a 30% stake in Hapco alongside North Huajin (51%) and Panjin Xincheng (19%), and has the right to supply up to 210k bbl / d of crude to the complex.

Full steam

Acwa Power and Saudi Energy awarded a USD 2.2 bn contract to build the 2.3 GW Rabigh 2 expansion on the Red Sea coast, with the gas-fired plant due to begin commercial operation in May 2029. The engineering, procurement, and construction contract went to a joint venture between Egyptian company Elsewedy Electric’s power systems arm and PowerChina’s Sinohydro, according to a press release (pdf).

The JV is delivering the plant turnkey for Al Mourjan Two for Electricity, the project company of which Acwa and Saudi Energy (formerly Saudi Electricity Co.) each hold 40%. That covers everything from design to commissioning and testing, plus the civil works and the grid connection. The gas-fired combined-cycle plant will run on six Siemens gas turbines and two steam turbines, and it’s built to take a carbon capture unit later.

Back to court

NMC founder B.R. Shetty is launching a new USD 15 bn court battle against Bank of Baroda. The UAE-based businessman filed a lawsuit against the Indian state-owned lender and 25 other defendants in the Bombay High Court, alleging that bank officials helped facilitate fraud behind the collapse of NMC Health, Reuters reports, citing court filings.

What’s the case? Shetty alleges that bank officials facilitated circular fund transfers, ignored more than 100 anti-money laundering alerts, and accepted forged signatures on personal guarantees he says he never authorized. He’s seeking USD 5 bn each in direct damages, consequential losses, and reputational harm — bringing the total claim to USD 15 bn — plus 18% annual interest, according to Gulf News.

The bank isn’t backing down: Bank of Baroda says it hasn’t been served with the suit and that the allegations remain untested in court. It has pledged to defend itself if served while separately pursuing Shetty for INR 28 bn (USD 295 mn) in outstanding dues through recovery proceedings in India and the UAE.

Two new fabs

Mubadala-owned GlobalFoundries will operate two new chip plants in New York under a US-Japan initiative worth up to USD 21 bn, it said in a statement. Japan will put up the money, while GlobalFoundries will supply the technology and run the fabs at its existing site in Malta, New York. An initial investment of around USD 10 bn will fund the first fab, which is expected to come online in 2029 and add some 900k 300mm wafers of annual capacity once fully operational. A further USD 10 bn or so would fund a second fab of roughly the same size.