Petronas apparently intends to make a mark with its first step into the base oil business. According to an announcement by ExxonMobil, Malaysias national oil company plans to build a plant with capacity to produce 6,500 barrels per day, most of it Group III.
The project would immediately make Petronas one of the largest suppliers of Group III oils.
Petronas has yet to make any formal statement about the project, first disclosed last summer when engineering firm Foster Wheeler Ltd. announced that it and another firm had been awarded a contract to serve as management consultants. A Petronas spokesman confirmed then that the company plans to build a plant at its refinery complex in Melaka, Malaysia. The spokesman added that at least some of the plants output would be Group III but maintained that its capacity had not been decided.
On Oct. 26, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. issued a news release stating that Petronas has selected a complete production train of its lube technologies for its grassroots catalytic base stock plant. ExxonMobil added that the plant will convert 16,000 b/d of low-sulfur waxy atmospheric residue into 6,500 b/d of primarily Group III stocks.
Petronas directed inquiries to officials who said that the company still is not prepared to comment. According to Foster Wheeler, plans call for construction to begin in early 2006 and the plant to open by mid-2007.
Petronas makes finished lubricants, but the plant described by ExxonMobil would presumably produce far more high-quality base oils than the company currently uses. Though significantly smaller than the worlds largest Group III plant – SK Corp.s 17,000 b/d facility in Ulsan, South Korea – Petronas plant would nevertheless be a large Group III source by any measurement.