A first for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the joint venture of TotalEnergies and Saudi Aramco has successfully managed to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from cooking oil.

SATORP, the refinery founded by the two oil giants, used its Low-Pressure Hydrodesulphurization Unit (LPHDS) to co-process waste cooking oil and convert it into SAF.

The fuel was found to meet all the SAF specification’s parameters for product quality, and the platform has been awarded International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC+), enabling it to meet the anticipated rise in demand for SAF in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

TotalEnergies, which also makes the Total lubricant and coolant range, provided its expertise and experience in making the project a reality.

SAF can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by over 80% when compared to conventional aviation fuel. It is thought to be vital for reducing the carbon emissions of the aviation sector in the nearer term, because it can be blended at up to 50% with conventional aviation fuel, and used in existing fleets.

TotalEnergies’ Senior Vice President for petrochemicals and refining in the MENA region, Francois Good, said about the SATORP platform:

“This project at SATORP is part of TotalEnergies’ aim to produce 1.5 million tons/y of SAF by 2030. Sustainable aviation fuel is essential to reducing the CO2 emissions of air transport, and its development is fully aligned with the Company’s climate ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”

SATORP previously announced that it had taken oil derived from plastic waste and converted it into circular polymers that are also ISCC+ certified.