Saudi Arabia's national oil company Saudi Aramco and its Malaysian counterpart Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) have formed two joint ventures (JVs) for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in the Malaysian state of Johor. Both will have equal ownership in the project and Saudi Aramco has committed to provide 50% of the crude oil feedstock required for the operations, with the option of increasing it to 70%. Petronas will be in charge of supplying gas and power to the refinery. The parties will share the rights to offtake the production of the joint ventures on an equal basis.
The US$16bn RAPID project will consist of a 300,000 bbl/d refinery and a petrochemical complex with a combined capacity of 3.3 Mt/year of various grades of products, including differentiated and specialty chemical products (synthetic rubbers and high-grade polymers). The project is part of Petronas' Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC), estimated at US$27bn. The refinery project is on track to be commissioned in 2019, with petrochemical operations following in 2020.
In January 2017, many sources believed Saudi Aramco would withdraw from the project because of the volatile environment and the low prices. Petronas said in the meantime that it would go forward regardless of Saudi Aramco's decision. Eventually, Saudi Aramco decided to maintain its share in the project.