MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas has reportedly postponed the start-up of its USD16bn Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Johor to mid-2019, citing a drop in oil prices over the past year, said Chemicals Technology.
The company intends to commission the refining and petrochemical complex during mid-2019. Petronas president and CEO Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin was quoted by Reuters as saying: "Commodity prices went down, it was a good time for us to go into the market for EPC contracts. "For the refinery, the start up will be middle of 2019. That is the current schedule."
Petronas has reviewed and re-bid certain engineering, procurement and construction contracts (EPC) for the project in response to weak commodity prices. The company also rescheduled some of its petrochemical projects.
"For the refinery, the start up will be middle of 2019. That is the current schedule."
"We've taken the decision that some of the chains in the petchem will be rephased. Basically, some of the chains, like the phenolic chains, will come later," Ariffin added.
Part of Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) development, the RAPID project was originally planned to commence operations in 2016. However, it was delayed to settle issues associated with relocation of residents, and was reported to be commissioned in 2017, and eventually pushed towards early-2019.
The RAPID project involves construction of a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery and petrochemical complex, which will produce various speciality chemical products.
During the October-December 2014 quarter, Petronas reported a loss of MYR7.3bn (USD2.03bn), compared to a profit of MYR12.8bn in the same period a year earlier, affected primarily by a slump in global oil prices.
Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC