VOL. XLIII

No. 13

27-March-2000

SAUDI ARABIA

US Decision To Phase Out MTBE Is Blow To Saudi Producers

The decision of the Clinton administration to phase out the use of MTBE and urge refiners to use ethanol as a gasoline additive will come as a blow to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), through three of its subsidiaries, is the second largest producer of MTBE after the US, with an output capacity of around 2.7mn tons/year.

The administrations decision sprung from...