Malaysia’s RAPID project receives first crude oil cargo
Sept. 26, 2018
The jointly held Saudi Aramco-Petronas $27-28-billion Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in southeastern Johor, Malaysia, has received its first delivery of crude oil at Pengerang Deepwater Terminal 2, marking the transition into the commissioning phase for startup of the 300,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) project (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2018).
Pengerang Refining & Petrochemical (PRefChem)—an alliance of Petronas and Aramco that includes the two joint ventures Pengerang Refining Co. Sdn. Bhd. and Pengerang Petrochemical Co. Sdn. Bhd.—received a cargo of 2 million bbl of crude supplied by Petronas and Aramco on Sept. 24 that will be used for commissioning and testing activities at the refinery, which are scheduled to begin in October, Aramco said.
Reception of the crude shipment initiates the long-planned start of commissioning activities for the new refinery, the company said.
“The arrival of the cargo signifies our readiness to move forward to startup and commercial operations,” said PRefChem CEO Colin Wong Hee Huing. “We are proud to have overcome the challenges in building this megastructure and remain on track to meet our target for crude-in. We will begin rigorous commissioning activities leading up to the startup in first-quarter 2019.”
Situated on part of the Malaysian government’s 22,000-acre Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex 400 km south of Kuala Lumpur, the RAPID refinery, which is nearing completion of construction, will produce a range of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, that meet Euro 5-quality fuel specifications to help Asia Pacific’s growing need for petroleum and petrochemical products, as well as naphtha-LPG feedstock for its 3.3 million-tpy integrated cracker and downstream petrochemical complex (OGJ Online, Sept. 20, 2016).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
