Petronas to expand Malacca refinery

Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas plans to expand and upgrade its Malacca refinery to produce higher quality fuel and meet rising demand after recently raising the plant’s capacity to 290,000 barrels per day (bpd), industry sources said. The project comes as several other refiners have revived or are considering expansions. Around 5.1 million barrels (bpd) of net refining capacity is likely to be added between 2011 and 2015. Upgrades will allow Petronas to process more sour crude at the refining complex, as the country’s sweet crude production declines. The study, which will determine capacity and investment costs, is expected to be completed in the first quarter next year, he said. (November 8, 2010)