Petronas receives tallest, heaviest fractionator process column in Malaysia

 From Astro Awani

Bernama | Published on June 26, 2016 21:21 MYT

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas has received the tallest and heaviest propylene fractionator process column in Malaysia for the steam cracker facility located within its Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Pengerang, Johor.

Petronas receives tallest, heaviest fractionator process column in Malaysia
Petronas and Toyo personnel welcoming the arrival of Malaysia’s tallest and heaviest fractionator process column in Pengerang today. – BERNAMApic
In a statement, Petronas senior vice president and CEO of Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd (PRPC), Colin Wong Hee Huing said the fractionator has been recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the tallest and heaviest process column in Malaysia.
The state-of-the-art equipment was received on June 25.
Wong said this complemented the overall development of the PIC, which is poised for its refinery start-up by early 2019.
The PIC is a mega-scale, high-complexity development consisting of 23 process plants for refinery, steam cracker, petrochemicals and associate facilities.
The project is entering the construction phase and is progressing as scheduled. “We are optimistic of delivering this development within a relatively short timeframe of 52 months from when we reached our Final Investment Decision (FID) in April 2014. “We are now at the mid-point of the project schedule and on track towards achieving the overall PIC start-up in the first quarter of 2019,” he added.

The process column travelled eight days aboard the Jumbo Maritime-operated vessel MV Fairmaster, and all the way from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea, before arriving at the Material Offloading Facility (MOLF) port in Tanjung Setapa, Johor. The vessel also carried a smaller-scale propylene fractionator and an ethylene fractionator.

All three process columns are part of the main structures for PIC’s steam cracker complex, to be constructed by a consortium of Toyo Engineering Corporation and Toyo Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd.

Pengerang Gas Pipeline project on track

Pengerang Gas Pipeline project on track

PGB’s regasification terminal in Pengerang should be fully commissioned by the first quarter of 2018, the company says. – Petronasgas.com
He said the project would enable the initial supply of gas from the existing Peninsular Gas Utilisation (PGU) pipeline network to Pengerang and vice versa.”In addition, the group is expected to achieve final investment decision by the second quarter of 2016 for its Air Separation Unit project, also in Pengerang, for which the heads of agreement was signed in 2014,” he told the media after the group’s annual general meeting here today.

According to Shamsul Azhar, those are among the growth projects that keep the utility company busy this year onwards.

Although facing a challenging time, PGB managed to secure positive results for the 2015 financial year, he said.

Its revenue was sustained at RM4.5 billion last year, up 1.5 percent from RM4.4 billion in 2014, while profit rose 7.8 percent to RM2 billion mainly due to the tax incentives for the plant rejuvenation and revamp project that was fully completed in early 2015.

He also said PGB’s regasification terminal in Pengerang should be fully commissioned by the first quarter of 2018.

“At this point of time, it is about 25 percent completed,” he said, adding that the project would likely contribute to the company’s growth in terms of income and profitability moving forward.

On capital expenditure, he said PGB, which undertook a loan of US$500 million or RM2.2 billion from Mizuho Bank Ltd early this year, would use the bulk of the loan for its projects and also as a reserve for maintenance.

Asked on the demand for gas in Malaysia moving forward, Shamsul Azhar said PGB does not see demand for gas in the country reducing.

“In fact we are investing in a regasification terminal in Pengerang to basically cater for additional gas which will cater for future requirements,” he added.

PGB’s resilience, coupled with support from its shareholders, have enabled it to achieve an increase in market capitalisation to RM45 billion as at end-2015, further bolstering the prominence of the firm’s corporate branding in Malaysia.

A dividend of 60 sen per ordinary share for the year was approved, representing a normalised dividend payout ratio of 77 percent – a level that is on par with, if not better than, the industry average.

 

Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex

The focus on oil and gas projects, arising from the Economic Transformation Programme, will create a more dynamic and progressive oil and gas industry in Malaysia. Malaysia companies will be able to partake with local and foreign investors to invest in new technologies, new products as well as create countless job opportunities as several of these petrochemical projects take off in the near future.

The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) is one big step in creating value to the downstream oil and gas value chain in Johor. Sited in Pengerang, it is one of the largest pieces of investments in Pengerang district and located on a single plot measuring about 20,000 acres. The project will house oil refineries, naphtha crackers, petrochemical plants as well as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and a regasification plant.

 

In PIPC, oil refining facilities will add value to imported crude oil via the Pengerang Independent Deepwater Petroleum Terminal (PIDPT). New high-value and high-demand products and by-products, such as polymers, pharmaceutical products and plastics, will be created from the refined feedstock. In creating these products, Malaysia’s petrochemical complexes will be able to generate greater value and investments from its oil and gas sector.

As of January 2013, two major catalytic projects have been committed within the PIPC area. The RM5 billion Pengerang Independent Deepwater Petroleum Terminal (PIDPT) is a joint-venture between DIALOG Group of Malaysia, Royal Vopak of Netherlands and Johor State Secretary Incorporated (SSI). Construction of Phase 1 of the project has already started and is scheduled for completion by Q1 2014 and Phase 2 land reclamation is in progress. The total storage capacity available at PIDPT is planned for five million cubic metres by the year 2020.

The second mega-project within PIPC is PETRONAS’ RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) Project. The RAPID project site preparation is in progress and is expected to be commissioned by 2016. RAPID will have a 300,000 bbl. per day refining capacity while additional petrochemical plants will generate value to petroleum products produced in RAPID.