“I believe that this honor has been awarded as a result of S-Oil’s continued efforts to make continued investments with trust in Korea despite several economic hardships over the past 40 years,” said Al-Mahasher during his acceptance speech.

The investment is being used to construct a petrochemicals refining complex in Ulsan, set for completion in 2018.

As the largest single plant ever to be constructed in Korea, the Ulsan plant is expected to reinvigorate the local economy by creating around 12,700 new jobs and fostering new business worth around 1.11 trillion won across the Ulsan region, S-Oil said.

By turning low-value residual oil into high-value petrochemical products like olefins and gasoline, the new Ulsan plant is expected to drive up its export volume by around $2.5 billion as well, according to the company.

“By successfully completing our largest-ever investment project (in Ulsan), I will work to further contribute to the development of the Korean economy,” said the S-Oil CEO.

Al-Mahasher, who has worked at Saudi Aramco for 22 years, took office as S-Oil’s representative director and CEO in March 2012. He led S-Oil to post around 9.52 trillion won in sales and record an operating profit of roughly 844.3 billion won in the first half of this year.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)