By Malini Hariharan
Malaysia’s Petronas is expected to soon announce plans for a new refinery and petrochemical complex Pengerang, Johor, a project that the blog had discussed a few months back.
A report in the Malaysian newspaper Star says the project, named Rapid or Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development, would involve an investment of close to $17bn. The Johor government will be a partner in the project and multinational energy companies will be roped in at a later date.
The aim is to replicate Singapore’s success in building Jurong island as a refining and petrochemical hub. Pengerang has been chosen as its waters can reach depths of more than 20m, which is what is needed for very large crude carriers (VLCC) and ultra large crude carriers, says the report.
This project will complement plans for a $1.7bn deepwater petroleum terminal at Pengerang.
Details of capacities and start-up dates were not disclosed but the blog had earlier been told that completion of the refinery and naphtha cracker is likely in 2015-16. The cracker would also provide feedstocks for new speciality chemicals planned by Petronas and BASF.