Week 51 in Review: Our hydrocarbon journey comes to an end, Ithra unveils a prize-winning ‘Fossil,’ and Aramco reaffirms its commitment to diversity

Here are some of the top articles over the past week.

Refining: Decades of greenhouse gas mitigation in our operational DNA

The final stop on our multi-part hydrocarbon journey brings us to the Kingdom’s western coast, first to Jazan, home to Aramco’s newly built full conversion Jazan Refinery Complex, which is currently in final commissioning, and refining at half its full capacity of 400,000 barrels per day.

“Clean production of hydrocarbons is important for the business, the local community, and the planet,” says the west coast local,” says Jazan operator operator Abdulmohsen O. Dawshi. “As a diver, my relationship to the sea is deep and I am proud to work in this plant.” 

Further up the coast, imaginative engineering is reducing emissions, saving energy, and more, at Yanbu’ NGL Fractionation plant.

Yanbu’ NGL engineers came up with an idea to not only stop this waste of resource and reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with flaring operations, but to also use the vapor.

Instead of a typical flare gas recovery system, which requires a gas compressor, the creative Yanbu’ team decided to route the ethane vapor to be used as fuel for the utility plant boilers.

The innovative thinking achieved many benefits: reducing emissions compared to flaring, not wasting resources, and lowering cost.

Ithra unveils prize winning E Pluribus Unum – A Modern Fossil

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) this past weekend unveiled Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s E Pluribus Unum – A Modern Fossil, the winning artwork of the fourth edition of the Ithra Art Prize. The unveiling was done at the inaugural Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale. 

One of the most significant art prizes in the Arab world, Kaabi-Linke received a $100,000 grant to bring her proposal to life.

E Pluribus Unum – A Modern Fossil takes a reflective look at one of the effects of the pandemic, which continues to impact commercial air travel, and highlights questions about how humanity measures progress.

Aramco reaffirms its commitment to the empowerment and well-being of employees living with disabilities

Aramco’s Diversity and Inclusion Division has held a virtual event to explore further empowering people with disabilities in the workplace to mark the International Day of People with Disabilities (PwD).

The event aimed to raise awareness of PwD in business and in the community and featured keynote speakers and panelists, experts in the field.

“Simply put, to be the best at what we do, we must empower everyone in our company to perform to their full potential,” said Nabeel A. Al-Jama’, senior vice president of HR and Corporate Services.

National Maritime Academy celebrates first batch of grads 

This week, the National Maritime Academy (NMA) celebrated the graduation of 47 students representing the first batch of its students an associate diploma in Deck Seafaring and associate diploma in Mechanical Seafaring (Machinery Department) disciplines.

“We anticipate that the boom, which the maritime services sector is currently witnessing, will contribute to the creation of a number of direct and indirect job opportunities for Saudi youth over the long run, and the academy’s role will be developed and expanded to implement positive transformation insights,” said Fahad Abdul Kareem, chairman of the NMA Board of Trustees and Aramco’s representative.

GPCA: Reflecting on the potential of hydrogen to deliver sustainable, efficient, and affordable energy at scale

At the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association held on Dec. 7, vice president of Chemicals and leader of Aramco’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Business, Olivier Thorel spoke to Aramco’s capability in hydrogen.

Setting out the global context, Thorel noted that clean hydrogen has been gaining significant traction across the world and has been identified as a key solution to achieve carbon neutrality.

“We see huge potential in low-carbon hydrogen, particularly its role in decarbonizing the hardest-to-abate sectors such as power, heavy industries, and heavy-duty transport,” Thorel said.