Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed a share purchase agreement with Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), allowing the latter to acquire a 50 percent equity in the Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development's (RAPID) refinery and cracker assets. Witnessed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the agreement was signed by Amin H. Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco and Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & Group CEO of Petronas. Also present at the ceremony was Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry & Mineral Resources, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Aramco. "On the occasion of the historic state visit to Malaysia by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and in his presence, Saudi Aramco is proud to be entering into a deeper partnership with our world class partner Petronas via the RAPID project," Saudi Aramco's president and CEO Nasser said. "Together with Malaysia, the Southeast Asia region offers tremendous growth opportunities and today's agreement further strengthens Saudi Aramco's position as the leading supplier of petroleum feedstock to Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and with RAPID's strategic location in a prolific hub, it would also serve to enhance energy security in the Asia-Pacific region." Under the partnership, Saudi Aramco will meet most of the crude feedstock requirements of the refinery, with natural gas, power and other utilities supplied by Petronas. President & Group CEO of Petronas Wan Zulkiflee said, "The PIC is one of the largest industrial developments in the region as well as Petronas' largest downstream investment on a single site to date." He said, "The signing of this agreement is truly a historic moment for the industry as it is not often that two professionally run national oil companies enter into a partnership in a world-scale greenfield project. "This partnership will also bring together two organizations with strong reputation, wealth of operational experience and proven record in developing mega projects as well as having commercial networks in different markets globally. I also look forward to continue to explore other potential areas of collaboration and partnership which will further deepen our long-term relationship." With capacity to refine 300,000 barrels of crude per day, RAPID's refinery will produce a host of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel which meets Euro 5 fuel specifications; as well as feedstock for its integrated petrochemical complex producing 3.5 million tons per annum of products. Situated 400 kilometers south of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, the PIC development is almost 60 percent complete and is on track for refinery start-up in 2019.
