Refineries
Yanbu hosts three oil refineries; SAMREF was commissioned in 1984 and, like YASREF, is listed at about 400,000 barrels a day.
Yanbu Industrial City on the Red Sea coast was established by royal decree in 1975 and is managed by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. Its refineries, petrochemical plants and export terminals create Zone 1 and Zone 21 areas for operators and contractors. An Ex-proof mobile phone distributor in Yanbu Industrial City would carry the IS-04Z1 to these buyers once certification completes.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Yanbu Industrial City has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Ex marking | Group, category, protection concept, gas group, temperature class | II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 (target) |
| Gas group | IIA, IIB or IIC matched to the area drawing | IIC (target) |
| Temperature class | T-class below the ignition temperature of the gas | T4, 135 °C (target) |
| Where it applies | Yanbu Industrial City: Crude and product storage and loading, Marine terminals, Refinery process units | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Yanbu. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
Who operates there and which kinds of classified area a handset would meet, from the SAMS site research.
Yanbu hosts three oil refineries; SAMREF was commissioned in 1984 and, like YASREF, is listed at about 400,000 barrels a day.
Three major oil pipelines from the east end at Yanbu, which has two ports: Yanbu Commercial Port and King Fahd Industrial Port.
Yanbu is reached from the east by the East-West crude pipeline of about 1,200 km, which can bring up to 7 million barrels a day from the Eastern Province.
King Fahd Industrial Port is about 25 km long and covers 50 square km, with 34 berths and a stated capacity of 210 million tonnes a year.
Yanbu is the second most populated city in Medina Province after Medina and the second largest Saudi city on the Red Sea after Jeddah, so a local service base exists.
Yanbu has three separate parts about fifteen minutes apart by car: Yanbu Al-Bahr in the north, Yanbu Al-Nakhal inland, and the industrial city in the south with the Royal Commission residential area beside it.
“Ex-proof” is shorthand for equipment carrying an explosion-protection marking (the Ex mark) that matches the area it enters. The marking states the protection concept, gas or dust group and temperature class, and it must be backed by a certificate issued by a recognised body, so a phone described as Ex-proof should come with a certificate number you can check.
The IS-04Z1 is designed to carry the marking II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. That is a target: certification is in progress, no certificate has been issued, and SAMS will publish the certificate numbers when they exist.
In Yanbu Industrial City. Crude and product storage, loading and marine terminals normally involve fuels, while petrochemical plants may differ. A marking check at Yanbu should read zone, gas group and temperature class from each plant's own classification. The IS-04Z1 target marking is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4, still a target.
A distributor for Yanbu Industrial City would carry the IS-04Z1 after certification completes; the Q4 2026 launch is the planning date and no appointment has been made. SAMS reviews applicants one by one and prefers companies with their own Ex-competent technical and service staff, since certified devices must not be repaired outside approved channels.
Not yet. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and its certification is still in progress ahead of a Q4 2026 launch. No unit goes into a classified area before the certificate covering it exists. The datasheet, the certification schedule and safe-area evaluation units are available now.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
The marking target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. It becomes a marking only when the certificate is issued; until then it is a design target.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, petrochemical plants, crude and product storage and loading, marine terminals. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Yanbu Industrial City.
Coastal air is humid and salt-laden, and summers are hot, so sealed housings, corrosion-resistant connectors and a wide operating temperature range are sensible choices. The port harbour is shielded by an offshore reef, but that does not remove the salt air.
King Fahd Industrial Port has crude oil, NGL, LPG and chemical terminals among its eight, and handles about 1,800 vessels a year. Jetties, manifolds and pump areas typically need Zone 1 or Zone 2 equipment; terminal operators set their own approval rules.
Plant-side purchasing sits with each refinery or contractor, while Aramco uses its e-Marketplace Platform for registration. Requirements differ between SAMREF, YASREF and Aramco's own refinery. Confirm with the site operator before ordering, and expect any handheld to need approval from the specific plant.
More on Yanbu, and on other places in Saudi Arabia.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule.