Aramco RAPID exit, Petronas starts LNG train

KUALA LUMPUR, January 25, 2017 – A suggested deal between Petronas and Saudi Aramco on the Malaysian NOC’s Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID) has been shelved, media reported on Wednesday.

The proposal would have seen Saudi Aramco partner on the USD 20.1 billion (MYR 89 billion) project for the construction of a 300,000-bpd refinery and a steam cracker plant that would produce 3 million tpy of ethylene, propylene, C4 and C5 olefins, as well as an LNG re-gasification facility and a power generation plant.

In other news, the ninth production train began producing on Petronas’ Malaysia LNG Complex (MLNG) on January 1, 2017, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation announced on Monday.

The ninth train brings 3.6 million tpy to the entire development, now totalling a combined production capacity of 27.6 million tpy. The MLNG complex consists of three separate projects: MLNG, MLNG Dua and MLNG Tiga. MLNG Dua, which was launched in 1992, began producing in 1995 while MLNG Tiga began construction in 1995, with first production in 2003. Each of the three projects have three distinct LNG trains.

JX Nippon joined the project by purchasing a minor 10% stake in the third phase of the LNG project in June 2016. MLNG is run by Petronas, along with minority shares owned by the government of Sarawak, Shell, Mitsubishi and Diamond Gas, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi.

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