Reuters reported that Saudi Aramco and China's Sinopec Group are expected to sign in November the final agreement to build 400,000 barrels per day oil refinery in Yanbu.

Mr Fu Chengyu chairman of Sinopec Group said that his company will head to Saudi Arabia to finalize the deal without confirming the date of the signing. We will sign the deal but the time has not been set yet.

In July, the Chinese government approved Sinopec's plan to jointly build the refinery after state run Saudi Aramco struck in March an initial pact to build the USD 10 billion plant in the world's top oil exporting country.

Aramco will hold 62.5% stake in JV formed to develop the project called Red Sea Refining Company while Sinopec will own the remainder. The venture would be the first refining project the Chinese state oil major, parent of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corporation builds outside China, putting it in a race against rival PetroChina which has snatched a string of refinery deals beyond Chinese borders.

The refinery was to have been built by US oil firm ConocoPhillips and Aramco. But Conoco pulled out of the plans in April 2010 as it shifted away from the refining business to focus on oil and gas exploration. Aramco has said it will push on with the project even after ConocoPhillips withdrew and in July 2010 awarded deals to build the refinery expected to be online in 2014.

(Sourced from Reuters)