Petronas rolls out Euro 4M RON 97

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB), the retail arm of national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has rolled out the first Euro 4M RON 97 petrol in the country, two weeks ahead of its gazetted Sept 1, 2015 implementation date.
“We are the only oil company in the country that is selling Euro 4M RON 97 starting today,” its managing director and CEO Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus told a press conference after the official launch yesterday.
He said the new petrol, which will be produced at its local oil refineries, will replace the previous Euro 2 M RON 97, and carries the same price at RM2.45 a litre, inclusive of Goods and Services Tax.
He said currently Petronas owns and operates three oil refineries in Malacca and Kertih, Terengganu, with a 400,000 barrels per day production capacity.
Ibrahimnuddin said Euro 4M petrol, which comes with lower benzene, sulphur content and Reid vapour pressure (RVP) levels, is a greener fuel as it produces less emissions and pollutants compared with Euro 2M RON 97.
“The capex (capital expenditure) for the Euro 4 M is still on a progressive manner. So it’s hard to come out with the figures,” he added, noting that 60% of its 1,060 Petronas stations in the country are upgraded with the new formulation.
For 2015, the group has allocated RM500 million in capex for the local market, which Ibrahimnuddin said represents the company’s normal level of expenditure every year.
“PDB is committed to ensuring and giving full support to the government implementation of the highest specification for the respective fuels as gazetted under the environmental quality regulations,” he added.
Last year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced that Euro 4M RON 95 fuel will be introduced in Malaysia in October 2018, Euro 5 diesel in September 2020 and Euro 5 RON 95 and RON 97 in September 2025.
Commenting on Reuters’ recent report, which claimed that Petronas is planning to shut its crude distillation unit at its Malacca refinery in the fourth quarter, Ibrahimnuddin said there is nothing unusual as its refineries have scheduled maintenance every year.
Reuters reported that the state-owned oil and gas firm plans to shut its 270,000 barrel-per-day Malacca refinery for about 15 days in October or November this year, for maintenance purposes.
“For us, the refinery is under Petronas, not us (PDB), so it is going to be difficult to be answered. But as usual, refineries have a scheduled maintenance every year,” he added.