Petronas cuts first steel for Rapid project in Pengerang

PETALING JAYA: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is ready to start the construction works for the US$16 billion (RM57 billion) Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, following the steel cutting ceremony for Rapid's Steam Cracker Complex (SCC) there on June 15, 2015.
Located within the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), the project is targeted to start refinery operations by first quarter 2019, whereby the project's commercial operations expected by middle of 2019.
The steel cutting ceremony was officiated by Petronas Refinery and Petrochemicals Corp Sdn Bhd's senior vice president and CEO Dr Colin Wong Hee Huing.
Also present were managing director of Toyo Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd, Toji Kawakami and Toyo Engineering Corporation Japan's project manager, Takashi Iguchi.
"The SCC Project involves a number of large equipment and machinery such as 18 mounded bullet tanks and three large pressure vessels with an extensive weight of about 15,000 tonnes," Wong said in a statement last Friday.
"These massive storage facilities are an integral part of SCC which is also the biggest single steel fabrication work to be carried out by the Toyo consortium," he added.
The national oil and gas company said the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract for the SCC project was competitively awarded to the Consortium of Toyo Engineering Corp and Toyo Engineering & Construction on July 18, 2014.
The SCC comprises an ethylene production plant, pyrolysis gasoline plant, butadiene extraction plant, benzene separation plant, MTBE production plant as well as utility and offsite facilities.
"Petronas remains steadfast in forging ahead with the development of Rapid project and PIC-associated facilities including the Pengerang Co-generation Plant, Re-gasification Terminal 2, Air Separation Unit, Raw Water Supply Project, as well as Crude and Product Tanks Terminal," it added.