National oil giant Saudi Aramco expects soon to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Basic Industries for a joint oil-to-chemicals project, Chief Executive Amin, Nasser said, according to Reuters.

SABIC, the second biggest petrochemical maker in the world, explained that the chemical project, which could cost $30b, would process petrochemicals directly from crude oil instead of first refining the oil into products such as naphtha.

The project could create as many as 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly, DownStream Today reported. Mazen al-Sudairi, Head of Research at Al-Istithmar Capital, said that Aramco’s participation could benefit SABIC by giving it better access to funding as well as assistance in marketing products.