Eni, Petronas to develop Malaysia elastomer plants
Petronas has signed an agreement with Eni-controlled Versalis to jointly own, develop, construct and operate elastomer plants within Petronas’ proposed refinery and petrochemical integrated development (RAPID) complex in Pengerang, Johor.
The proposed joint venture will produce and market synthetic rubbers using Versalis’ technology license and technical know-how, the companies said.
Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Versalis manages the production and marketing of a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, using a range of proprietary technologies and production systems and a wide-reaching distribution network.
The agreement signed with Versalis is the fourth-such arrangement secured by Petronas for RAPID, and the engineering activities will commence immediately, officials said.
Prior to this, Petronas inked similar agreements with Germany-based BASF, ITOCHU Corp. of Japan and Thailand’s PTT for various high value-added downstream chemicals.
Petronas says it is currently evaluating other potential partners and licensors for the various facilities to be developed within RAPID.
The proposed RAPID project is the largest liquid-based green-field downstream undertaking in Malaysia, according to the company.
It will have a 300,000 bpd refinery to supply the petrochemical complex, apart from producing a host of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel that meet Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel specifications.
The petrochemical component of the project will allow Petronas to expand its product portfolio from commodity petrochemicals to premium differentiated and specialty chemicals, the company said, capitalizing on the growing demand for these products in the Asia Pacific region.
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