Saudi Aramco has teamed up with Dow Chemical to develop a joint manufacturing programme for the Ras Tanura Integrated Project (RTIP) in Saudi Arabia.

During a cold eye review of the project at Saudi Aramco's Dhuran leadership training centre, the company's chief executive Adil Al-Tubayyeb said that the project will become the largest grassroots plastics and chemicals plant production facility in the world upon completion.

"This will dictate the development of a best-in-class manufacturing strategy to operate this site to maximise the value to the shareholders," he told his peers.

Other executives in attendance included Majid Al-Mugla, vice-president of project management, chief engineer Omar S. Bazuhair and Huda Ghoson, acting executive director of employee relations and training.

Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco entered into a joint partnership on the RTIP project in May 2007, with initial projections forecasting that the facilities will become operational in 2013, at an estimated cost of $20 billion.

Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Refining and Petrochemicals