The Sarawak Petchem Sdn Bhd-owned methanol plant project’s ground breaking ceremony was held on Wednesday. The project is estimated to cost over RM 8 billion ($2 billion).
The plant, which will have a production capacity of about 1.7 million tonnes per annum, will receive 160 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas feedstock from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), said Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg.
The project is expected to come on stream in 2023.
State-owned Sarawak Petchem inked a sale and purchase agreement with Petronas Chemicals Marketing (Labuan) Ltd (PCML) last December to market methanol for 20 years, with an option for further extension.
“The decision for the establishment of Petchem is timely due to abundance of natural gas as feedstock for the development of a mega methanol plant,” Abang Johari said at the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the methanol plant at Tanjung Kidurong.
“We will be intensely involved in developing the high value downstream products of oil and gas industries such as specialised and fine chemicals,” he said, adding that the state government will consider all feasible proposals to establish petro-chemical industries and will facilitate them accordingly.
He added that the methanol and derivative project is one of the Sarawak government’s two plans to embark on more downstream petrochemical sectors that add value, while another is an ammonia and derivative plant.
As part of the industrialization agenda, he said, the state government will make high-value petrochemical industry one of the main drivers of state-owned manufacturing industry development.
On the methanol plant, he said it would be a catalyst to further turn Bintulu from the present world-renowned producer of LNG gas into a petrochemical centre with potential integrated petrochemical complex with downstream value-added.
