Petronas' refining unit allocates RM1.5bil to increase euro 5 diesel output

MELAKA: Petronas through its subsidiary, Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd (MRCSB), plans to invest more than RM1.5bil to increase the production of Euro 5 diesel for domestic consumption.

MRCSB chief executive officer and managing director Hashim Majid said the company, which supplies about 70% of petrol and diesel demand in the local market, aspired to become the main producer of Euro 5 diesel by 2020.

MRCSB currently has a refining capacity of 300,000 barrels of refined petrol and diesel per day while for Euro 5 diesel, it expects to produce some 30,000 barrels this year.

"The company targets higher production of Euro 5 diesel for local use by September 2020, whereby the project is 30% complete. For Euro 5 petrol, we expect to produce it fully by 2025, however, this would depend on government approval through the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs," he told a press conference at the Back to School programme organised by MRCSB at a school uniform manufacturing company in Banda Hilir here today.

On Oct 5 this year, the Pakatan Harapan government announced the implementation of Euro 5 diesel and Euro 5 petrol utilisation on Sept 1, 2020 and Sept 1, 2025, respectively.

Elaborating further, Hashim said the production of Euro 5 diesel refined by MRCSB at its refinery in Tangga Batu here is something that the people should be proud of as it is fully undertaken by a local company, whereas the Euro 5 products supplied by the other competitors are all imported.

"Besides that, the utilisation of Euro 5 is guaranteed to be of higher quality as the sulphur content in the formulation produced by MRCSB is less than 10. In fact, it also uses the Petronas Fluid Technology Solutions expertise that is being used by the successful Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team," he added.

At the event, some 350 primary school students from 11 schools around Tangga Batu area received contributions worth RM100 each, including school uniforms, bags, shoes and socks, as well as school fees amounting to RM150. - Bernama