Malaysia seeks a Jurong Island of its own at Pengerang, Johor

Pengerang project hopes to draw up to RM100b investments
Pauline Ng Business Times 12 Jan 11;

CALL it fuel for growth. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced oil and gas projects worth RM20 billion (S$8.4 billion) yesterday, with Malaysia even looking to build its own version of Singapore's Jurong Island.

Mr Najib said that an independent deepwater petroleum terminal in Pengerang, Johor, in which the Dialog Group and Vopak Asia plan to invest RM5 billion, has received the go-ahead. It is expected to kick off in April, with the promoters looking to transform it along the lines of Singapore's Jurong Island petrochemical complex.

Mr Najib said that the five million cubic metre petroleum storage facility would 'catapult Malaysia into the ranks of a regional oil storage hub'.

'I expect significant multiplier effects from the Pengerang project to cascade to the entire economy and under the economic transformation programme (ETP), it is expected to generate RM1.6 billion in gross national income by 2020.'

Dialog executive chairman Ngau Boon Keat expects Pengerang to attract RM50-100 billion in investments in refineries, petrochemical and power generation plants over time.

Based on the letters of intent that the joint venture has received, he is confident that multinational companies are waiting to enter and will do so once the first phase of 1.3 million cubic metres commences, which is expected to be completed in 2013-2014.

Two other phases will follow, with the three occupying 500 acres. It is unclear how much land the Johor state government will allocate for spillover activities, but it has designated the south-eastern side for an oil and gas hub and is currently coming up with a masterplan.

'There is no reason why Pengerang cannot be another Jurong,' Mr Ngau told a press briefing later, adding that the joint venture would look at what Singapore has done 'and learn from their experience'.

Meanwhile, leveraging on tax incentives on marginal oil field developments announced last month, ExxonMobil and its contract partner Petronas Carigali have agreed to invest some RM10 billion 'over a number of years' to rejuvenate mature facilities and undertake enhanced oil recovery activities in the Tapis field.

They will also develop the offshore Telok project under a gas production sharing contract to provide more gas for industrial needs.

Shell will also expand its operations and allocate RM5.1 billion this year to upgrade and to build new facilities including the expansion of the MDS wax plant in Bintulu, a new diesel processing unit in Port Dickson, and in the Gumusut deepwater development in offshore Sabah.

The oil and gas sector has been deemed as one of the 12 national key economic areas seen to have the potential to raise economic output significantly for the country which aspires to reach developed status by 2020. Since last year, it has rolled out a number of projects to spur growth and create jobs.

Other investments announced by Mr Najib yesterday include a RM670 million investment in data centres by private companies MyTelehaus, CSF Group and Teliti Datacentres to cater to the increasing foreign demand for data centres in the Asia-Pacific.

In health care, University Malaya is planning to develop a health metropolis that it intends to position as a premier medical hub and centre of excellence for medicine and bioscience. Some RM1.25 billion will be invested in the project.

And in tourism, the YTL Group has plans for a deluxe resort on Sabah's Gaya Island. It has earmarked RM75 million for the resort which will have 132 spacious hillside and sea-front villas and a spa village built in a mangrove setting.

Dialog’s April target to start RM5bil terminal work
EIA for project to be approved soon
The Star 12 Jan 11;

PUTRAJAYA: Oil and gas services provider Dialog Group Bhd is targetting April to kick-off its RM5bil Pengerang deepwater petroleum terminal project in south-east Johor.

Executive chairman Ngau Boon Keat said the project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would be approved by next month or early March.

“Subject to the EIA approval, the big investment decisions will go ahead,” he told a media briefing here following the third update of the Economic Transformation Programme yesterday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The first of the three-phase project to be completed by 2013 or early 2014 and the entire 500-acre terminal to be completed by 2017.

Ngau said Royal Vopak, the joint-venture partner in the project, would help to operate the terminal as well as draw customers. Dialog has a 51% stake in the partnership with the remainder held by Vopak. The Johor state government which is giving a 60-year lease on the land on which the terminal would be built, would participate via a 10% stake.

“For a single terminal, this will be one of the largest in the world with a storage capacity of five million cubic metres,” Ngau said.

He estimated RM50bil to RM100bil of additional investments once the terminal was completed from others in the oil and gas value chain. “This is a good opportunity to develop the southern-half of Johor,” he said.

The Pengerang deepwater petroleum terminal project was among three significant oil and gas projects announced by Najib, the others being Exxon Mobil Corp's and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd's over RM10bil investment for the rejuvenation of facilities and Shell Malaysia's RM5.1bil which included investments along the entire oil and gas value chain.

Ngau said there was a need to establish downstream facilities to complement the oil and gas industry.

“There's a huge opportunity in petrol storage terminals which in turn will open up other areas of the industry,” he said.

Malaysia's Dialog to begin Johor terminal construction in April
Platts 12 Jan 11;

SingaporeMalaysia-listed terminal operator Dialog Group said it expects to begin construction of a 5 million cubic meters deepwater petroleum terminal at Pengerang, Johor in April, the company said Wednesday.

It is currently waiting for the outcome of the environmental impact assessment which will most likely be released in February or early March.

The company estimates the first stage of the three-phase project will be be completed by 2013 or early 2014, and the entire project by 2017.

On Tuesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced 19 investment projects worth MR67 billion ($22 billion) that the country was embarking on -- including Dialog's MR5 billion ($1.63 billion) Pengerang terminal project.

Dialog has a 51% stake in the project while the Johor state government, which has given a 60-year land lease for the development of the terminal, has a 10% interest. Royal Vopak, Dialog's joint-venture partner in this project, has the remaining stake in the terminal.

The planned facilities will have a water depth of up to 26 meters and will be capable of handling ultra large crude carriers (ULCC), VLCCs and other vessels, Platts reported previously. It will also have tankage facilities for the handling, storage, processing and distribution of crude oil, petroleum, petrochemicals and chemical products.

The Pengerang region is located at the southern tip of Johor state, close to the international shipping routes and Singapore's international petroleum hub.

Vopak and Dialog are equal partners at the 2.49 million barrel storage facility in Kertih in Malaysia's Terengganu state. The Kertih facility stores chemicals and LPG.

Dialog also has a stake in the 400,000 mt Langsat Terminal (0ne) in Johor which stores oil products. It has a 55% stake in Centralised Terminals, which in turn owns an 80% stake in Langsat Terminal (One). --Norazlina Juma'at, nora_jumaat@platts.com