Air Liquide Arabia Starts Hydrogen Supply to Aramco’s Refinery

Air Liquide Arabia said it has begun commercial operations at its west coast pipeline network in Yanbu by supplying hydrogen to a refinery owned by Saudi Aramco and an Exxon Mobil subsidiary.

The SAMREF refinery represents Air liquid Arabia’s (ALAR) first customer on the Yanbu pipeline network, which will also start supplying three other major industrial companies in Yanbu Industrial City in the coming months.

The hydrogen supply marks a shift towards cleaner fuels from crude for Saudi Aramco, amid rising global warming concerns that are adding pressure on the world’s largest oil producers to take action.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, told the United Nations in 2015 it would reduce expected carbon emissions by up to 130 million tonnes a year by 2030.

Francois-Xavier Haulle, general manager at Air Liquide Arabia said the company is “committed to expand further its investments and deliver further synergies around the circular economy created by its hydrogen pipeline infrastructure.”

Air Liquide Arabia will produce the hydrogen supplied to SAMREF from its global-scale hydrogen production site located on the premises of YASREF refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC).