In early May 2008, Total's executive committee and Saudi Aramco's board decided to move forward with a plan to build a 400,000-b/d full-conversion refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Initially, Saudi Aramco will own a 62.5% stake in the Jubail Refining and Petrochemical Co. joint venture and Total the remaining 37.5%. Both companies will own equal stakes in the joint venture once 25% of the company is offered to the Saudi public.

The product mix of the full-conversion refinery, which will process Arabian Heavy crude, will primarily consist of diesel and jet fuels. In addition, it will produce 700,000 t/y of paraxylene, 140,000 t/y of benzene, and 200,000 t/y of polymer-grade propylene. Both Saudi Aramco and Total will share the marketing of the refinery's products.

Total said the Jubail refinery will benefit from its proximity to the Arabian Heavy crude supply system and from nearby port, power, and water facilities in the Jubail industrial city.

On June 23, 2008, Total announced that invitations-to-bid for the project's construction had just been released. All bid packages are set to be awarded during the first quarter of 2009. In addition, the French company said the first orders for long-lead times would be placed in July 2008 and the project introduced to the lending community during the second half of 2008. The JV's targeted financial close is early 2009.

According to a June 1, 2009, Dow Jones article, Saudi Aramco plans to award $10 billion worth of contracts for the construction of the export refinery by the end of the month.