KUALA LUMPUR: Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, will not go ahead with the plan to team up with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) to undertake the RM89bil (US$20.1bil) refining and petrochemicals project in Johor, the Wall Street Journal said.
Saudi Aramco had decided not to go ahead with the project as it would not generate sufficient returns after conducting a feasibility study, according to three people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said on Wednesday.
WSJ said the two companies were in talks to create a joint venture partnership to build a refinery with capacity to process 300,000 barrels of oil a day, alongside a petrochemical complex with a combined annual chemical output of 7.7 million metric tons, the people said.
Petronas previously estimated the proposed complex would cost some RM53bil to build.
Related facilities ranging from raw-water supply to a plant to turn liquefied natural gas back into gas would cost another RM36bil.
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