Petronas to make a final investment decision on Rapid project by end of this month

06-Mar-14

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will make a final investment decision on the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Johor by end of this month, even though resident relocation issues remain. "I'm not sure how far one can imagine the size of the Rapid project. This is a RM60 billion project and we got a 6,000-acre site, the challenges that we are facing is massive," Petronas president and CEO Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas told pressmen. He said the state government is taking steps in providing alternative shelters to relocate the people in Pengerang. Last year, Petronas last year announced a second delay to the project in Johor to 2018, with a final investment decision on the project to be made in Q1-2014. The Rapid refinery was initially scheduled for start-up in Q4-2017, while the remaining plants within the complex were to be commissioned in 2018. The commissioning of the plant, by far the largest liquid-based green-field downstream undertaking in Malaysia, was pushed back due to a delay in the state government's relocation of residents.