S-Oil said Tuesday it will import blue hydrogen produced by Saudi Aramco to South Korea and establish a hydrogen ecosystem with consortium partners.

According to the South Korean refinery, it will convert the blue hydrogen into ammonia and transport it to Korea. Saudi Aramco is the parent company of S-Oil’s major shareholder Aramco Overseas Company.

The imported ammonia will then be cracked into blue hydrogen or be supplied without conversion to its consortium partners, including Samsung C&T or Korea Southern Power, as a fuel to generate power.

S-Oil, too, will be consuming some as it plans to replace fuels for running its petrochemical facilities with hydrogen and use hydrogen for other purposes such as bunker-C oil cracking and desulfurization.

“With a goal to achieve net zero by 2050, we are planning on, or expanding, our entry into all hydrogen value chains encompassing production, distribution and sales to combat climate change and to secure new growth engines,” a company official said.
By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)