Whats completed, what's not, at Petronas USD27B PIC complex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) shared the breakdown of development progress of its USD27 billion Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) here yesterday, which was 84% completed as at end-December 2017, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Petronas’ 300,000 bpd refinery complex, which forms part of the USD16 billion RAPID project within the 6,242-acre PIC, was at 94% development completion, said Datin Anita Azrina Abdul Aziz, Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corp Sdn Bhd’s head of stakeholder, communication and risk management.

She was speaking to the press today during a media familiarization visit to PIC. “The refinery will cater to more mid-sour crude from the Middle East,” she said. However, she said Petronas is “still ironing out the details” on the percentage of crude supply to be sourced from Saudi Aramco under a share purchase agreement inked in April 2017 between the two parties, as well as the pricing mechanism of the supply.

The associated steam cracker plant and petrochemical complex under RAPID — with respective annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes of feedstock and 2,640 kilotonnes of petrochemicals — were at 91% and 69% completion as at end last year.

The PIC sits in the larger, 22,000-acre Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) endorsed by the state government of Johor and the federal government. Alongside RAPID, PIC is also home to six other associated facilities, including the centralised and shared utilities and facilities for the project and its employees.

Its raw water supply project (PAMER), which channels 30 million liters per day to the Johor state water reservoir at Sungai Lebam and another 230 MLD to the PIC — started operations in July 2016. The project included the construction of an intake station, a dam and a booster pumping station, and 88km of raw water pipelines, Anita said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has started production of styrenic thermoplastic elastomer (TPS) at Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (Thailand) Co., Ltd., its subsidiary in Thailand in January 2018, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"TEFABLOC" is a core brand of our thermoplastic elastomers. The company has an extensive lineup of olefinic, styrenic, and polyester elastomers, and produce and market these products globally. Its TPS is used in a wide range of fields such as automobiles, building materials, electronic devices, food packaging, and healthcare, and we currently manufacture TPS in Japan, China, the United States, Europe, and Brazil.

In Southeast Asia, the company so far supply TPS by exporting from those markets of manufacture. However, TPS demand in Southeast Asia has increased in recent years mainly in the automotive and food packaging fields. To meet this robust market demand, the company decided to start TPS production in Thailand, a rapidly growing country.

With this production launch, its lineup of thermoplastic elastomers in Thailand will expand to four brands, which will enable us to offer a wider range of solutions with shorter lead times.

The company will continue to expand our thermoplastic elastomer lineup to meet the diverse needs of its customers and further accelerate the growth of its performance polymers business.

As MRC wrote previously, in late December 2017, Ube Industries, JSR Corp. and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. received European Commission (EC) approval for the planned integration of their acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) subsidiaries.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA will join the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), becoming the 10th member of the group which aims to lead the industry's response to climate change, said Hydrocarboprocessing.

Petrobras' entry is subject to the approval oocessingf the OGCI and Petrobras' board, the OGCI said in a statement.

The OGCI currently comprises BP, CNPC, Eni, Pemex, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Statoil and Total
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil and gas projects worth about USD6 billion are underway or soon to begin in Bahrain. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a conference, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Bapco Modernization Programme is on track for completion in 2022, he said with the $4.2bn engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning turnkey contract awarded last month to a consortium led by TechnipFMC. The signing of the contract is expected shortly, he added. The program entails the expansion of the capacity of the existing Sitra oil refinery from 267,000 up to 360,000 bpd besides improving energy efficiency, valorisation of the heavy part of the crude oil barrel (bottom of the barrel), enhancing products and meeting environmental compliance.

The minster also said Bahrain is looking for more partners to develop the Bahrain oilfield, which was exited by Mubadala and Occidental Petroleum in 2016.

The National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) this year will complete major projects, including the new 350,000 bpd pipeline (A-B) between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that will replace the existing 230,000 bpd link, the minister said.

“More than 50 per cent of the construction and modernization of the pipeline has been completed and the pipeline is now being laid underground in the south of Bahrain. The project is moving steadily according to plan and budget,” he said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Dutch court has lifted a freeze on Kazakh sovereign fund's assets worth USD22 billion, the Central Asian nation's Justice Ministry said on Wednesday, reported Reuters.

The assets held by the fund's custodian, Bank of New York Mellon, were frozen last October after a lawsuit by Moldovan businessman Anatolie Stati who seeks to enforce a USD500MM arbitration ruling against the Astana government.

The freeze had shocked the oil-exporting nation and the sovereign fund industry, partly because of the disproportion between the size of the claim and that of the frozen assets.

Stati, his son Gabriel and their companies were investors in Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry. They say they have been subjected to harassment from the state aimed at forcing them to sell their investments cheaply.

Kazakhstan denies the allegations, but Anatolie and Gabriel Stati and two of their companies - Ascom Group S.A. and Terra Raf Trans Traiding Ltd, have won an international arbitration award of around USD500MM against the government. Kazakhstan has refused to pay, accusing Stati of using fraudulent means to secure a favorable arbitration ruling and filing lawsuits against him.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday it was also seeking the reversal of a court ruling in Belgium which had frozen some Kazakh assets.
MRC