BY KING’S OFFICE CORRESPONDENTS
ULSAN, KOREA – His Majesty King Mswati III has told the Executive Vice President of SK Innovation, Ulsan Complex, Jong Hwa Kim, that the Kingdom of Eswatini is planning to build an oil refinery plant.
His Majesty appreciating the amount of work done by the company while he was briefed on the history.
He said currently the country has started the preparations to build an Oil Strategic Reserve, as a first phase and will be followed by an oil refinery immediately after.
The King revealed this when visiting one of Republic of Korea’s first and leading oil refineries, which was founded in 1964 and has since transformed the country to become one of the leading economies in East Asia.
The King and his entourage got a briefing of the production plant which sits tens of hectors.
In a true spirit of Nkwe, His Majesty said in his bilateral meeting with Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk, after the Korea-Africa summit in Seoul, he told the president about the country’s desire to build an oil refinery plant.
Professional Manager Soomin Keum briefing His Majesty about the range of oil products.
The president recommended and arranged that the King get to visit SK Energy Innovation Complex in Ulsan, where he was to observe firsthand operations and get to engage the company on the Kingdom’s future plans.
His Majesty the King defied a wet and cold weather condition and drove for an hour plus by road to get to the industrial park, where both Hyundai and SK Energy Innovation are based.
SK Energy management took time to brief the King and his delegation about the operations of the company.
“As we are here today, we are looking at receiving you and your team of consultants back home, where you will be able to make an assessment of what we will need to do to develop such a plant. We will then return and present the findings of our study to the president to see how the Kingdom can be supported.
“The president assured us that SK Energy Innovation is one of leading companies in this sector and we are happy to have witnessed for ourselves the good work you are doing,” His Majesty the King said.
The King said he viewed his visit to the company as the beginning of a new relationship between the Kingdom and the Ulsan Complex.
“I hope from now on we will share many ideas together. Let us work together for the good of our two countries’ economies,” he said.
The Executive Vice President Jong Hwa Kim said the SK Innovation has grown to operate the world’s largest single-site refinery and petrochemical production complex.
“Our complex produces 260 million barrels of petroleum, seven million tons of petrochemical products and 2.14 million barrels of lubricants and base oils annually.
“Approximately 70 percent of our product is exported, making us a leading energy company in South Korea. We hope that today’s visit by His Majesty the King marks a significant step towards fostering friendship between the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of Korea,” he said.
Korea sources the crude oil from the Middle East and get it processed and sold back to the world.
