This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 25, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The joint venture of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Saudi Aramco announced yesterday the first crude oil cargo has arrived at the Pengerang Deepwater Terminal 2, which they said marks a significant milestone in the construction of the refinery at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC).

“We are proud to have overcome the challenges in building this megastructure and remain on track to meet our target for crude- in. We will begin rigorous commissioning activities leading up to the start-up in the first quarter of 2019,” Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical (PRefChem) chief executive officer Dr Colin Wong Hee Huing said in a statement.

PRefChem is a strategic alliance between Petronas and Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company.

PRefChem said the new refinery, with a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude per day, will, upon completion, produce refined petroleum products including gasoline and diesel which meet Euro 5 fuel specifications.

“Additionally, the refinery will provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex within the PIC, which has the capacity to produce 3.3 million tonnes per annum,” the statement read.

The cargo of two million barrels of crude supplied by Petronas and Saudi Aramco will be used for commissioning and testing activities, scheduled to commence in October, said PRefChem.