Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has obtained the needed regulatory approvals, including environmental permits, to establish a petrochemical joint venture (JV) project with ExxonMobil in the US Gulf Coast.

SABIC expects that this project will have a positive impact on its financial results, the company said in an announcement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The $7.3-billion project is expected to launch in H1 2022, including a 1.8 million ton ethylene unit that will feed a monoethylene glycol unit and two polyethylene units, according to Argaam.

It was announced in May that SABIC and ExxonMobil have created a new JV for the development of the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project, a 1.8 million tonne ethane cracker in San Patricio County, Texas.

The project was originally announced in 2016, however, construction works did not commence pending completion of the environmental permitting process.