Petronas progresses on RAPID project

BMT Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd. (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd., has completed a concept design for the material offloading facility (MOLF) at state-run Petronas’ proposed refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) complex at Pengerang in southeast Johor, Malaysia (OGJ Online, May 13, 2011).

Working in partnership with Technip, the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor for the RAPID project (OGJ Online, Mar. 13, 2012), BMT provided a concept design for a temporary, heavy lift jetty that will be an integral part of the project’s infrastructure, according to BMT.

BMT’s work on the MOLF’s conceptual design included geotechnical and marine structural engineering design activities as well as a number of specialist studies and surveys needed for adequately evaluating the options available, the company said.

BMT also conducted marine studies for the project using the company’s navigation simulation tool, Rembrandt, to help better understand the possible operational limits associated with ships coming into the port and their potential impacts on the jetty design.

With a planned capacity of 300,000 b/d, the proposed RAPID refinery will produce naphtha and liquid petroleum gas feedstock for the petrochemical complex (OGJ Online, Mar. 13, 2012), as well as gasoline and diesel meeting European specifications to help address Asia-Pacific’s growing need for petroleum and petrochemical products.

In addition to production units that include a naphtha steam cracker, the RAPID development will provide storage and logistics facilities for a number of dry and liquid bulk products, according to BMT.

Petronas previously let RAPID-related contracts for the license and engineering design work on ethylene, butadiene, benzene, isobutylene, and MTBE units at the complex to CB&I (OGJ Online, July 13, 2012) and for the basic engineering package for the complex’s three-train sulfur recovery unit to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2012).

In June 2013, Petronas told investors it expected a final investment decision for the RAPID project by the end of this year’s first quarter, which would delay commissioning of the project to fourth-quarter 2017 from its original targeted startup of yearend 2016 (OGJ Online, May 13, 2011).