Petronas greenlights RAPID project

April 4, 2014
Malaysia’s state-run Petronas has reached a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with its long-delayed proposal to build a refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) complex at Pengerang in southeast Johor, Malaysia.

Malaysia’s state-run Petronas has reached a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with its long-delayed proposal to build a refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) complex at Pengerang in southeast Johor, Malaysia (OGJ Online, May 13, 2011).

Petronas’ board approved the FID for the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) on Apr. 3, according to the company.

RAPID is estimated to cost about $16 billion, while associated facilities will involve an investment of about $11 billion, Petronas said.

“The FID is a critical stage gate in our decision making process,” said Tan Sri Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas, president and group chief executive officer of Petronas, emphasizing that the project meets the company’s criteria for long-term profitable and sustainable growth.

The PIC will begin construction once the state government fully hands over the project site to Petronas, according to the company.

While Petronas did not disclose a specific timeframe for when construction activities will commence, it did confirm that the refinery portion of the project is scheduled for start-up by early 2019.

Developed within a 6,242-acre site, the PIC will consist of a 300,000-b/d refinery as well as a petrochemical complex with a combined capacity of producing 7.7 million tonnes/year of various differentiated and specialty chemical products, including synthetic rubbers and high grade polymers, the company said.

The project will also include a host of associated facilities, which will include a raw water supply facility, power cogeneration plant, LNG regasification terminal, and other ancillary facilities, according to Petronas.

In June 2013, Petronas told investors it expected an FID for RAPID—which is part of the Johor state government’s larger Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex— by the end of this year’s first quarter, which would postpone commissioning of the project to fourth-quarter 2017 from its original targeted startup of yearend 2016 (OGJ Online, Mar. 27, 2014).

Despite a series of delays for RAPID since it was first announced, Petronas has continued to advance portions of the project in order to expedite development and construction once FID was reached (OGJ Online, Mar. 27, 2014; Sept. 25, 2012; July 13, 2012; Mar. 13, 2012).