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From Black Gold to Green Gold: Jubail's Industrial Story

Jubail Industrial City was built from 1975 to turn Saudi oil and gas into petrochemicals, and that remains its core. The green side is real but narrower than slogans suggest: a large carbon capture and utilisation plant, a desalination plant partly powered by solar, and a carbon storage hub due by the end of 2027.

How did Jubail become an industrial city?

The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) was established on 21 September 1975 to plan and run new industrial cities on the Gulf and Red Sea coasts (Source: Saudipedia; Wikipedia). Jubail Industrial City, north of the old town, became the larger of the first two.

The city specialises in petrochemicals and primary industry, and Saudipedia reports that 13 of SABIC's 16 production plants are there. The United Nations, announcing a 2021 UNESCO award, called it the world's largest petrochemical industrial city; treat that as the UN's description rather than a measured ranking.

That award matters for the people behind the plants. In October 2021, Jubail Industrial City received the UNESCO Learning City Award for lifelong learning, including evening classes the UN says upskilled more than 168,000 citizens (Source: UN in Saudi Arabia, 2021).

Two seaports carry that output, both under the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani). King Fahd Industrial Port serves the Industrial City with 34 berths and a capacity of 70 million tonnes a year (Sources: Saudipedia; Wikipedia). Jubail Commercial Port handles general trade; in April 2026 its expanded container terminal started operating, lifting annual capacity from 1.5 million to 2.4 million TEU (Sources: Arab News, 1 April 2026; Container News, 2 April 2026).

What does green gold mean in Jubail today?

Five projects carry the label, each documented by the companies involved.

Carbon capture and use. In 2015, SABIC opened a plant at its affiliate United Jubail Petrochemical Company that captures 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year from ethylene glycol production. The gas goes to other SABIC plants to make urea and methanol, and some becomes food-grade liquid CO2 (Source: SABIC; Plastemart, 2013).

A blue ammonia trial. In September 2020, Aramco and SABIC dispatched 40 tonnes of blue ammonia to Japan for power generation. SABIC says the ammonia came from its SAFCO facilities, with captured CO2 sent to methanol production at its Ibn-Sina plant (Sources: SABIC; Aramco, 2020).

Solar-assisted desalination. The Jubail 3A plant, opened in June 2023, produces 600,000 cubic metres of water a day. Its 45.5 MW of solar panels cover about 20 percent of its energy use, and ACWA Power calls it Saudi Arabia's first large-scale desalination plant integrated with solar PV (Sources: ACWA Power; Water Online, 2023).

A carbon storage hub. In December 2024, Aramco, Linde and SLB signed up for phase one of a CCS hub in Jubail. It aims to capture and store up to nine million tonnes of CO2 a year, with construction expected to finish by the end of 2027. Aramco holds 60 percent and its partners 20 percent each (Sources: Aramco; OGCI).

Blue, not green, hydrogen. In March 2025, Aramco completed its purchase of a 50 percent stake in Blue Hydrogen Industrial Gases Company, a Jubail firm owned by Air Products Qudra. It aims to make hydrogen from natural gas and capture the CO2, starting commercial output alongside Aramco's carbon storage work in Jubail (Sources: Aramco and Air Products Qudra release, July 2024; Arab News, 24 March 2025). That is "blue" hydrogen. None of the sources we checked describes an operating green hydrogen plant in Jubail.

These projects sit under a national target. At COP26 in 2021, Saudi Arabia announced its ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2060 (Source: UNFCCC).

How far has the transition really gone?

Not as far as the old version of this page claimed. In March 2026, SABIC Agri-Nutrients announced feedstock for a seventh plant in Jubail Industrial City producing 1.2 million tonnes a year of conventional ammonia and 2.6 million tonnes of urea (Source: SABIC Agri-Nutrients, 26 March 2026). Trade press notes that a 2024 plan for this site had centred on low-carbon ammonia (Source: Milling Middle East and Africa, 27 March 2026).

So both pictures are true. Jubail is expanding its fossil-based chemical output, and it is also home to some of the region's largest carbon capture projects. For visitors, the industrial zone stays a working city; the seafront and parks are where you see it from. Start with Jubail facts and the Al Jubail travel guide.

FAQ

Is Jubail turning green?

Partly. Jubail hosts a large carbon capture and utilisation plant, a desalination plant that draws part of its power from solar panels, and a carbon capture and storage hub under construction. Yet its core remains petrochemicals and fertilisers, and one planned low-carbon ammonia plant was switched to a conventional design in 2026.

Who runs Jubail Industrial City?

The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, a government body established on 21 September 1975. It plans and manages Jubail Industrial City and three other industrial cities: Yanbu, Ras Al Khair and Jazan. The old town of Jubail, Jubail Balad, is a separate district to the south.

Sources and last checked

Last checked: 7 October 2026.

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