State oil firm Petronas will start up its $19 billion petrochemicals complex in Malaysia in 2018, the company said, signaling a further delay in the country’s largest-ever infrastructure project.
A source familiar with Petronas’ business strategy told Reuters the project had been complicated by a need to secure water supplies as well as cater for proposed international partners.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
“As a result of the revised final investment decision date, the RAPID refinery is scheduled to be ready for start-up in Q4 2017 and the remaining plants within the complex is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018,” Petronas said in a statement.
This is at least six months later than market expectations after local media had cited Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas in June as saying the start date for phase one of the RAPID project had been pushed back to early 2017.
Delays in the project — a cornerstone of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Economic Transformation Program aimed at doubling Malaysians’ incomes by 2020 — could slow an economy whose oil and gas sector makes up a fifth of GDP.
The complex is the largest single investment in Malaysia, and aims to grab a chunk of the $400 billion global market for speciality chemicals used in products from LCD televisions to diapers.
Its location at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, just 10 km from Singapore’s east coast, is part of a vision for a “Greater Singapore” energy trading hub that would rival competitors such as China.
Source: Arab News
A source familiar with Petronas’ business strategy told Reuters the project had been complicated by a need to secure water supplies as well as cater for proposed international partners.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
“As a result of the revised final investment decision date, the RAPID refinery is scheduled to be ready for start-up in Q4 2017 and the remaining plants within the complex is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018,” Petronas said in a statement.
This is at least six months later than market expectations after local media had cited Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas in June as saying the start date for phase one of the RAPID project had been pushed back to early 2017.
Delays in the project — a cornerstone of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Economic Transformation Program aimed at doubling Malaysians’ incomes by 2020 — could slow an economy whose oil and gas sector makes up a fifth of GDP.
The complex is the largest single investment in Malaysia, and aims to grab a chunk of the $400 billion global market for speciality chemicals used in products from LCD televisions to diapers.
Its location at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, just 10 km from Singapore’s east coast, is part of a vision for a “Greater Singapore” energy trading hub that would rival competitors such as China.
Source: Arab News
