Petronas embarks on ambitious downstream expansion

The downstream division of Petronas is embarking on a MYR60 billion (US$19.7 billion) project that is expected to be bigger than all of the company’s existing refineries and chemical plants put together. Malaysia’s state-owned oil company operates around 23 plants locally and 10 lubricant blending plants worldwide, which is expected to grow as Petronas makes a bid to be among the top five global players by 2016. The company is also planning to expand the base oil plant in Malacca to 380,000 tons per annum (tpa). The company’s fifth and largest refinery will be built in Johor and will have a capacity of 300,000 tons per annum. Upon completion of the refinery, Petronas expects that production will help ensure supply for local demand of petroleum products. The country currently imports 15% of its petroleum products’ requirement. The refinery in Johor is one of the projects of Petronas under the Refinery and Perochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) and will produce Euro 4-compliant products. (December 5, 2011)