Business

Friday November 13, 2009

Pristine plans RM900mil O&G storage facilities


KUALA LUMPUR: Oil and gas (O&G) storage facilities provider Pristine Oil Capital Sdn Bhd plans to invest RM900mil to build a storage terminal in Pulau Besar, Malacca.

Group chief executive officer Captain Kamarulzaman Mohamed said the Melaka Oil Storage Terminal (MOST) project is scheduled to start by the second half of next year and to be completed in mid-2013.

“We are in the process of completing the environmental impact assessment and it (the facility) will be the first seaport and independent oil storage tank in Malaysia,” he told reporters after launching Pristine’s new corporate branding here yesterday.

Kamarulzaman said South Korea’s Samjung TCN and MSK Corp Sdn Bhd had been appointed as the main contractor and contracts worth about RM700mil had been awarded for the proposed project.

Engineering conglomerate Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd would build a five-megawatt power plant costing US$50mil and provide the latest technologies in electrical, instrumentation, automation equipment, tank process control and applications, he said.

“The terminal will cater to the demand of the marine industry such as Petronas, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and international oil traders,” he added.

According to Kamarulzaman, Pristine will raise funds via a syndicated loan for the project, with 70% to 80% to be raised locally and the remainder from offshore.

He said the terminal could be an alternative for local customers who are currently using a terminal in a neighbouring country.

The construction of MOST on 32ha will be carried out in four phases, comprising the marine terminal and jetty, and multi-purpose oil storage tanks farms with 360,000-metric tonne capacity.

Kamarulzaman said there were close to 40 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, with more than 11 million barrels being transited through the Straits of Malacca alone.

To date, Pristine has paid RM516,000 to the Malacca state government.

Of this amount, RM400,000 was for land premium, RM100,000 for commitment fees and RM16,000 as ex-gratia to fishermen to show its commitment to the project, he said. — Bernama

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