Friday, March 31, 2017

More on the Petronas-Aramco JV: Unlike Petronas, Petrochina offered stake in Aramco IPO, and in talks to provide EOR services

Comment 


Petrochina has been offered a slice of the Aramco IPO ,and is in talks to provide enhanced oil recovery services to Aramco. Petronas has not said anything about being offered a stake in the listed Aramco, nor has it said anything about providing its EOR services to Aramco.
Both are potential money spinners, so why then is Petronas not part of these.

END



PetroChina latest China oil major to consider Aramco listing


PetroChina (601857.SS) (0857.HK) will consider taking part in national oil giant Saudi Aramco's initial public offering based on market conditions, it said on Thursday, the second Chinese oil major to discuss becoming an investor this week.

"Saudi Aramco has raised this plan to PetroChina," president and vice-chairman Wang Dongjin said on Thursday at a briefing following the announcement of China's largest oil and gas producer's 2016 results.

"I think we will make our evaluation and study based on the market situation," Wang said.

On Monday, Sinopec Corp (600028.SS) said the Aramco president had visited the firm and both sides would have talks on the IPO, which is expected to be the world's largest equity sale.

Wang said PetroChina was also in talks with Aramco on its Yunnan Petrochemical plant and about the possibility of supplying its enhanced oil recovery technology to Saudi oil fields.

"We are also having discussions on the joint venture Yunnan Petrochemical. We are making very active progress," he said.


Sources told Reuters in 2015 that Aramco was looking to invest $1-1.5 billion in its new refinery in the country's southwest. [nL3N1H13NV ]

The company expects oil prices to range between $50-58 per barrel this year, recovering from the multi-year lows hit early in 2016.







(Reporting by Gabriel Yiu and Raffaele Huang; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Tom Hogue and Susan Thomas)

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Petronas' Arif Mahmood's "nothing like Pengerang in this region " comment suggests a desperate attempt to justify excessive costs.

by Ganesh Sahathevan





The matter of Petronas executive VP Md Arif Mahmood (photo above)  defence of the RAPID project has been previously explored in the article:

RAPID refinery " needs a specific type of crude oil "-Petronas executive VP Md Arif Mahmood explains why RAPID refinery will not be as advanced as public were led to believe

Readers will note from the comments to the above article that there has been an attempt to deny that Arif ever uttered those word.To quote one " Nadia"  this writer is  "putting words in others' mouths..... And saying things that they did not say?

Be that as it may, Arif said even more.To the question put to him by Malay Mail Online:

There have been people saying the top management of Petronas was actually unwilling to do this joint venture?
I don’t know how they report this but I think information has to come from credible sources.
Here readers can see for themselves  precisely whose credibility it is that Arif questions, in the linked references from The Star,quoted in  this writer's article titled 
PETRONAS CEO Wan Zulkiflee May Be Sacked, And An EPF Bail Out Of RAPID Likely The Implications Of PM Najib's Claims Of Economic Sabotage.


Having said that, Arif is on a roll, and one must not stop him. He has also said :
If you look at this region, nothing comes close to the Pengerang project. If anything, you will hear about the expansion of refineries, or they may or may not come onstream. This is as real as it can be.
At this point, the level of hyperbole, which one would not expect from a national oil company, becomes too much to bear and readers are simply referred to these projects in Singapore.


On the matter of feedstock, given that the RAPID refinery " needs a specific type of crude oil ":

On the matter of storage,and thus access to feedstock:
The Jurong Rock Caverns, being built 150 metres underneath petrochemical hub Jurong Island, will be taller than a nine-storey building and store almost 1.5 million cubic metres of oil -- the capacity of 600 Olympic swimming pools.

The real question here is this:Why the over the top attempt to justify Pengerang and RAPID? Is the real issue here cost over-runs, that now need to be justified?
END 
















Malay Mail Online

Money

Nothing in this region comes close to Pengerang

‘We need crude, and we were looking for partners who can actually secure us supply of crude,’ Arif said. — Picture by Ahmad ZamzahuriKUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — In an interview with the Malay Mail recently, Petronas downstream chief executive officer and group executive vice president Md Arif Mahmood elaborated further on the Aramco deal in the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project and explained why the company was not forced to enter the deal with Aramco as well as the need for Petronas to look into regional demands for oil and gas.
With the recent signing of the agreement with Aramco, how are things going at RAPID?
Just to be clear, RAPID is just a part of the whole Pengerang project. The whole complex today has progressed by 60 per cent and we are doing well. The Aramco deal is actually a share purchase agreement of 50 per cent of RAPID, which means they have signed up to be our partner in this project.
At this stage, it revolves around the refinery and the cracker.
When you say RAPID, what do you mean?
The refinery, the cracker and petrochemicals. After that, we have the regassing facilities, power plant and a lot more.
Is the project 60 per cent complete?
So far the progress has been good, and it is progressing as planned.
When will it be completed?
We are still on track, and the plan is to get it operational by 2019.
Would RAPID be refining only Aramco crude following this deal?
Since the partnership is 50-50, and with this, Aramco will supply at least 50 per cent of the 300,000 barrels of crude oil to be refined at RAPID.
What will be the use of the fuel refined at RAPID?
The intent is to predominantly supply the domestic market but eventually, it will be for regional distribution.
Why Aramco? No one has asked this question.
Actually, looking for partners for such a project is a given thing. Both partners are leveraging their strengths and managing risks at the same time. Not many people are aware of this — the discussions between Petronas and Aramco have been ongoing for some time.
Actually, they had a look at this venture beginning in 2014. At that time, we had just cleared the site, and they were then keen on both the project and on the country itself — that is the stability of Malaysia. The discussions with the Saudis took more than two-and-a-half years.
They looked at the due diligence on the investment opportunities. It is not like it was only yesterday when we decided to partner Aramco.
But if you look at ‘Why Aramco’?: It is the biggest crude supplier in the world, with 10 million barrels a day. This refinery needs a specific type of crude oil that will allow us to make the necessary cut to supply to the petrochemical plant.
To have a crude supplier as a partner, for long-term crude security, that itself is a good reason for Aramco.
Was it Petronas looking for Aramco or Aramco looking for Petronas?

You see, it was a mutual thing. We need crude, and we were looking for partners who can actually secure for us supply of crude. They need partners who will help them extend their downstream business, especially in Asia Pacific.
If you look at this region, nothing comes close to the Pengerang project. If anything, you will hear about the expansion of refineries, or they may or may not come onstream. This is as real as it can be. Then on top of that, you see, Aramco has done this kind of integrated complex many times already with their partners.
Of course this was mainly in Saudi Arabia, not outside of the country. That experience they have is also beneficial to us. With their interest in growing their own downstream business, they wanted to see that here too, and I think this is the perfect match in that sense.
A lot of people think it is an overnight thing, but it is not since it is something we have been discussing for quite an extended period. I presume there are no changes to plans and design of the project even with the entry of Aramco?
Because you see, although it is a greenfield project, the project is already progressing well so you do not make changes when it is ongoing. But they have provided inputs to us from their experience on what is it that we should be doing in order to enhance the project further.
This was even before the deal was signed?
Even before that. We discussed this. Like in any venture, we have the technical, commercial as well as crude supply teams in discussion.
People are asking whether you are forced to do this venture?
No. How can we be forced to do this deal? We were looking for a partner that would complement the project and that is the obvious criteria when you are looking for partners.
There have been people saying the top management of Petronas was actually unwilling to do this joint venture?
I don’t know how they report this but I think information has to come from credible sources. I think we can always speculate about a lot of things. Things like, for example, why are we selling this? We are not selling this.
We are looking for partners to invest and co-invest. And selling and co-investing are very different. And then they say top management are forced into this JV. This is going to be a long-term marriage; we are not going to be forced into this.
I am going to make this very clear. It had to be with agreeable terms, not only for us but also for Aramco before we could actually get to the stage where we are now.

References


Market outlook: Feedstock flexibility key from ExxonMobil in Singapore

31 January 2014 10:01 Source:ICIS Chemical Business
ExxonMobil is using innovative technology in Singapore to enable it to crack crude oil and other streams
ExxonMobil says as many as 50 refinery streams move backwards and forwards between its expanded cracker and refinery in Singapore. The company has pushed the envelope on steam cracking still further to crack crude oil and eliminate the reliance on expansive naphtha or other costly liquid feedstocks.
 
 ExxonMobil’s advances open new Asian markets
Copyright: Exxon Mobil
More than 40 new proprietary technologies are being employed in the company’s Singapore petrochemical complex at the heart of which is a new 1m tonne/year steam cracker started up last year. The production complex expansion was inaugurated on Wednesday 8 January by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
ExxonMobil built the world’s first steam cracker in the US in the 1940s and has been developing its own steam cracking technology since.
The current head of the energy giant’s chemicals business, Stephen Pryor, says the new Singapore cracker can process an unprecedented range of feedstocks, from light gases to heavy liquids.
“In fact, it is the first steam cracker that can use crude oil as a feedstock,” he said. “It is ExxonMobil’s biggest advance in steam cracking since we invented the process some 70 years ago.”
That degree of flexibility, and the product streams that will be available from the plant, are helping the company target a wider range of growing markets in East Asia. “ExxonMobil views the Singapore complex as a platform for future growth,” according to Pryor.
ADDITIONAL DERIVATIVESAlongside products it has made historically, the company has looked at what additional derivatives it might want to produce. There are plans to make halobutyl rubber from the C4 streams from the cracker and tackifying resins from C5s.
The complex includes a 300,000 tonne/year specialty elastomers plant and Singapore will become ExxonMobil’s global supply point for these products.
The company believes ethylene is heading for oversupply in Asia and has voiced concerns about lengthening derivatives markets, particularly as new capacities come on-stream in the US based on shale gas and in China based on coal.
“Asia remains at the bottom of the cycle. We’ll be in a challenging environment for a while and the extent to which the shale phenomenon [in the US] will add to that challenge – that’s a fact of life too,” Pryor said.
Its push into specialties and the broadened cracker feedstock capability would be hedges against a more challenging period for the industry.
UPBEAT ABOUT THE LONG TERMExxonMobil is convinced, however, that the long-term fundamentals for the chemicals business remain strong. Regional demand for its metallocene polyethylenes (PE), for instance, is expected to grow 1.5 to 2.0 points higher than GDP.
Global chemicals demand is expected to grow by 50% over the next decade with two thirds of that growth in Asia-Pacific.
The innovations that have been the driving force behind the capacity expansions in Singapore show what can and has to be achieved by petrochemical producers if they want to remain competitive.
The shale revolution in the US has been a huge driving force for change in the sector, prompting a wave of capacity expansions and new project announcements.
But Pryor has talked before about the game-changing nature of shale and put the rush to add new shale-gas based petrochemicals capacity into perspective.
“The idea that the shale feedstock advantage will always be so large overlooks the dynamic nature of energy and chemical markets,” he said at the Gulf petrochemical Association annual meeting in Dubai in November.
“Shale technology has given our industry a tremendous new source of energy and feedstock. But shale is not our industry’s first game-changer and it won’t be the last,” he added.
Major petrochemical companies will always play to their advantages, but those advantages shift position and change over time.
ExxonMobil was not prepared to jump on the shale gas to chemicals bandwagon too soon but has plans to add 1.5m tonnes of ethylene capacity in Baytown coupled to two 650,000 tonne/year PE plants in nearby Mont Belvieu.
The addition of light feedstock cracking capacity in the US, however, is really only layered on the company’s multi-feedstock approach.
“The idea that the shale feedstock advantage will always be so large overlooks the dynamic nature of energy and chemical markets,” Pryor said at the GPCA meeting.
“For chemical companies to maintain a competitive advantage in this ever-changing environment, we must continuously innovate across the value chain – from our raw materials to our finished consumer products.”

















Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Mudaballa Deputy CEO Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi and US Billionaire Thomas Kaplan publicly endorsed the Low family's Jynwel

by Ganesh Sahathevan
                                  Jynwel Capital: Rooted in the Past, Invested in the Future




Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi

Investment Committee, Deputy Group CEO & Chief Executive Officer, Emerging SectorsWaleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi

Waleed serves as Mubadala’s Deputy Group CEO and Chief Executive Officer, Emerging Sectors. He has oversight of Mubadala’s operational and business development activities as well as its healthcare, real estate, infrastructure and capital investment portfolios and its Enterprise Technology & Services unit.

Board Positions: Chairman of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Tabreed. Vice Chairman of Aldar Properties and Board Member of Mubadala Petroleum, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Investcorp Bank B.S.C. Waleed is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Cleveland Clinic.


Billionaire player in the Middle East - Thomas Kaplan of Electrum Group
Billionaire player in the Middle East – Thomas Kaplan
 of Electrum Group


Reference

Top UK Politician Held Interests In A Group Funded By Jho Low - EXCLUSIVE

Top UK Politician Held Interests In A Group Funded By Jho Low - EXCLUSIVE

Billionaire player in the Middle East - Thomas Kaplan of Electrum Group
Billionaire player in the Middle East – Thomas Kaplan of Electrum Group
Sarawak Report has learnt that a senior UK politician who holds strong connections with the Middle East was linked to a company that received a $150,000,000 injection of money from Jho Low.
In late 2012, Jho Low’s Jynwel Capital invested $150 million into the newly formed Electrum Group run by Anglo-American billionaire Thomas Kaplan – money now suspected as having emanated from the looting of 1MDB.
The investment formed 7% of the fund’s total worth of over $1 billion, which is mainly owned by Kaplan’s private family trust, according to filings in the United States and it earned Jho Low a place on the board of Electrum.
Two other major institutions also invested in Electrum at the same time: Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Kuwait Investment Fund together added a further $300 million of investment, the company has said.
However, Sarawak Report has learnt from inside sources that a senior British political figure also held an interest in the company and therefore stood to benefit from these injections of hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia and the Middle East.

Top connections – How Jho Low used his partners as referees

Jho Low was soon utilising his connections with Kaplan and also Mubadala to promote Jynwel’s credentials as a global investor and his own image as a man of vision and integrity. A corporate video commissioned by Jynwel in 2014 features Kaplan, extensively praising his new business partner:
“What do we look for in a partner? Someone first and foremost whose word is their bond, that when they say they’re going to do something, you can bank it.” [Jynwel promotional video]
Jho Low also joined the Board of Kaplan’s wild cat charity Panthera, contributing $20 million to the fund and promoting his ‘philanthropy’ in the process.

Abu Dhabi connection

The same promotional video also features Mubadala’s Deputy Group CEO, Waleed al Muhairi again praising Jho Low. By late 2012 Jho Low had already stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB, according to the DOJ, in connivance with another Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund manager, Aabar’s Khadem al Qubaisi:
“In Jynwel we have found a partner that not only shares the same passion for investing that we do, but also is a match for our values… we have worked hand in hand with Jynwel across multiple projects, multiple investments, across multiple geographies” explains Waleed Al Muhairi 
These joint investments have included, according to the Department of Justice seizure filing of 20th July, the purchase of EMI Publishing and also New York’s Park Lane Hotel Group, both of which Jho Low funded through money stolen from 1MDB.
The DOJ has already identified a record $1 billion in assets, now under seizure in the United States, as products of money laundering from 1MDB. However, it has stated that at least $3.5 billion was stolen in total from the Malaysian fund, leaving major question-marks over Jho Low’s other investments.
There is therefore considerable speculation over whether the money which flowed into Kaplan’s funds will also eventually be traced to 1MDB.
Spokesmen for Electrum (from which Low recently resigned his post) informed the Wall Street Journal that they are working with the US authorities and have ‘safeguarded and sequestered‘ any potentially tainted funds.

Potential for embarrassment

Jonathan Powell's memoir of his years working for Tony Blair
Jonathan Powell’s memoir of his years working for Tony Blair
Whether or not this turns out to be the case, Sarawak Report has been informed that the matter could cause  embarrassment for a senior UK political figure, whose involvement in the Kaplan fund was not previously known.
This is particularly so, given the added investments made by the sovereign funds from the Middle East.
Kaplan, who studied at Oxford University, but is based in the United States, already has extensive links with well-known politically connected figures in the British establishment.
His former fellow undergraduate friend, Jonathan Powell, took up a position as a ‘Senior Advisor’ to Kaplan’s multi-billion dollar Tigris Financial Group in 2011. Powell has also acted as a member of Kaplan’s wild cat charity, Panthera’s Conservation Council.
At the front of his most recent book, ‘The New Machiavelli – How to Wield Power in the Modern World’, regarded as an anecdotal memoir of his 13 years serving under former UK premier Tony Blair, Jonathan Powell acknowledges the support and assistance of his ‘colleagues’ Thomas Kaplan, Ali Erfan and Aamer Sarfraz, who are all associated with Tigris Financial Group, in the writing of the book.
Jonathan Powell - Kaplan already has close business associations with the British establishement
Jonathan Powell – Kaplan already has close business associations with the British establishment
It is well known that after Tony Blair left office Powell continued to play a senior role within his former boss’s private commercial operations, acting as a consultant to his private company Tony Blair Associates and working also with various linked PR and lobbying groups.
Blair was simultaneously Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia from 2007 until last year.
Considered a player, Powell was himself appointed as David Cameron’s personal Libyan Special Envoy in 2014, on the basis of his earlier diplomatic career and peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. His brother has long been close to the Conservative Party.

Billionaire businessman who stuck his nose into the Middle East

These links have now raised controversy, given Kaplan’s own interests and connections in the Middle East.
After years of non-disclosure, the billionaire has been revealed as the main funder of the campaigning organisation known as UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran), which has been the most vocal opponent of Obama’s recent peace initiatives with Iran, bitterly opposed by the Gulf States and also Israel, where Kaplan has strong ties.
For example, it has been pointed out that the Chief Executive of UANI, a former American Ambassador Mark Wallace, receives no current income from the non-profit group, yet has simultaneously acted as the CEO of Tigris Financial Group and also Chief Operating Officer of Electrum Group, both owned by Kaplan.
Investigative journalists have further identified at least three other staff connections between Kaplan companies and the UANI campaign group, which he funded to the tune of $843,,000 in 2013.
In this context, according to court filings against Kaplan (he was sued for defamation by a Greek businessman, Victor Restis) Jonathan Powell also featured as a board member for UANI in recent years:
“Jonathan Powell, an Advisory Board member of UANI and The Institute for Strategic Dialogue was a college classmate of Kaplan’s and serves as a Senior Advisor to Tigris Financial Group.” [How much money can these two Iran hawks make out of the Middle East?]
Powell's Powerbase resume includes Senior Advisor to Tigris and Advisory Board Member of UANI
Powell’s Powerbase resume includes Senior Advisor to Tigris and Advisory Board Member of UANI
Powell appears to have now resigned from this position, but archives show the link:
Screen Shot 2016-09-07 at 19.11.44

Politics or the business of instability?

Kaplan has himself claimed that his activities in the Middle East through UANI have made his organisation one of the most effective actors on the political stage and a combat force against Iran:
” “Hard to know what the outcome will be but I do know that as much as United Against Nuclear Iran may not have had Tomahawk missiles and aircraft carriers at its disposal, we’ve done more to bring Iran to heel than any other private sector initiative and most public ones.” [Video of Kaplan speaking on UANI]
However, critics have suggested that his driving motivation is financial.  His billion dollar business, mining precious metals, openly trades on the profitability of instability and conflict in places like the Middle East, they say.
One investigator, who exposed Kaplan as the primary funder of UANI, says there is ample evidence that Kaplan seeks investors in his gold and silver mining ventures by directly pointing to conflicts that threaten economic stability:
The 2002 annual report for Kaplan’s Apex Silver Mines, Ltd., which has since gone bankrupt, contained an insight into his thinking. The report, issued by Kaplan and Apex’s CEO, Keith R. Hulley, asks investors to “consider the following factors: destabilization in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, tensions between India and Pakistan, the potential for nuclear confrontation with North Korea and Iran, […] religious extremism and terrorism on a global scale and corporate hooliganism.”
The solution, explained Kaplan, is that the “trend to invest in companies with real assets and exposure to the non-correlated commodities sector is likely to prove to be long-term and secular rather than cyclical.”
In other words, if you believe political instability is likely, invest in assets like those mined by Apex.
And Wallace, as CEO of Tigris, oversaw similar language in a 2011 prospectus — after his stint with UANI commenced — for the Sunshine Silver Mine Corp., an Idaho mine owned by the group, which he played an active role in acquiring. “Investment demand for silver exposure remains strong,” said the prospectus, which was filed with the SEC, “driven in part by continued U.S. dollar weakness, ongoing economic uncertainty in Europe and political unrest in the Middle East.” [Eli Clifton, Document Reveals Billionaire Backers Behind United Against Nuclear Iran]
The message must surely be that politically connected people with links to the Middle East should shun business with Thomas Kaplan, if they want to avoid embarrassment, because his business benefits from further conflict and his organisation meddles actively in the politics of the region.





Monday, March 27, 2017

Canada's whole of government anit-Islamophobia law may have consequences for investment in Canada,and have extra-territorial effect

by Ganesh Sahathevan 




As reported by Al-Jazeera:



Canadian politicians have passed a motion that condemns Islamophobia and requests that the government recognise the need to "quell the public climate of fear and hate". 
The non-binding motion, which condemns "Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination", passed on Thursday among a divided parliament.
It asks a parliamentary committee to launch a study on how the government could address the issue, with recommendations due in mid-November.   
The study should look at how to "develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia," the motion says.  

Islamophobia, as defined, means an undefined "irrational fear" of Islam. While normally thought of as acts of non-Muslims towards Muslims, it should arguably include , for example, the fear of Shias that Sunnis have. This is quite evident in Malaysia, where the Malaysian Government has strict policies against Shia activities. 
The Malaysian Government is also a big investor in Canada, via its wholly-owned national oil company, Petronas: 
Petronas Eyes New Island for $27 Billion Canada LNG Plan

Profits from the project will flow to the Malaysian Government to finance its activities, including those against its Shia population.
A  whole of government anit-Islamophobia law cannot simply ignore these facts.
END 



RAPID refinery " needs a specific type of crude oil "-Petronas executive VP Md Arif Mahmood explains why RAPID refinery will not be as advanced as public were led to believe


by Ganesh Sahathevan





The RAPID refinery is meant to be a very modern refinery  capable of turning virtually any crude oil into  high end products (the technical term is high complexity).

Modern refineries are not supposed to rely on any particular crude for it makes them beholden to a particular supplier or suppliers; but here we have Petronas executive VP Md Arif Mahmood (photo above) insisting :

"This refinery (Rapid) needs a specific type of crude oil that will allow us to make the necessary cut to supply to the petrochemical plants".


END 

Petronas defends RM31b joint venture with Saudi Aramco



In the wake of concerns raised over alleged attempts to sabotage the nation's economy, Petronas has defended its decision to pursue a RM31 billion deal with Saudi Aramco for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) in Pengerang, Johor.

English-daily The Malay Mail quoted Petronas group executive vice-president Md Arif Mahmood as saying that it was "never forced into the joint venture" and had always been eyeing a partner like Aramco.

"How can we be forced to do this deal? We were looking for a partner that would complement the project.

"We are not selling Rapid as reported. It’s a 50-50 partnership," Md Arif is reported as saying in an interview.

The Rapid project is part of Petronas’ Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), estimated to cost as much as US$27 billion.

"We are looking for partners to invest and co-invest. And selling and co-investing are very different," he pointed out.

Md Arif also said not many people were aware that discussions between Petronas and Aramco have been ongoing since 2014.

"The discussions with the Saudis took more than two-and-a-half years. They looked at the due diligence of the investment opportunities.

"It is not like it is only yesterday we decided to partner Aramco," he said in describing the partnership as being "an obvious and perfect" one.

The deal signing was formally witnessed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Saudi King Salman on Feb 28 as part of the king's agenda while on a state visit to Malaysia.

Md Arif dismissed as "not credible" reports that said senior Petronas officials were against the joint-venture with Aramco and had to be forced into it.

"I am going to make this very clear. It had to be within the terms agreeable, not only for us but agreeable to both parties before we could actually get to the stage where we are now," he stressed.

Among others, Md Arif said, Rapid would be supplying at least 50 percent of the 300,000 barrels of crude oil to be refined a day at its facilities.

On reasons for partnering with Aramco, he said Petronas needed a partner that would be able to leverage its strength and manage the risks at the same time.

"Why Aramco? It is the biggest crude supplier in the world with a supply capacity of 10 million barrels a day," he said.

"This refinery (Rapid) needs a specific type of crude oil that will allow us to make the necessary cut to supply to the petrochemical plants.

"To have a crude supplier as a partner, for long-term crude security, that itself is a good reason why Aramco," Md Arif added.


Najib last week accused a former leader of spreading lies about Malaysia, which he said had nearly scuttled the deal between Petronas and Saudi Aramco.

In the veiled attack apparently aimed at Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib lamented that the opposition would rather create false propaganda than to engage on facts.

END 
References

Crude oils have different quality characteristics
graph of Density and sulfur content of selected crude oils, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Energy Intelligence Group—International Crude Oil Market Handbook.
Notes: Points on the graph are labeled by country and benchmark name and are color coded to correspond with regions in the map below. The graph does not indicate price or volume output values. United States-Mars is an offshore drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico. WTI = West Texas Intermediate; LLS = Louisiana Light Sweet; FSU = Former Soviet Union; UAE = United Arab Emirates. 

Republished: June 26, 2013: Map was corrected.
Many types of crude oil are produced around the world. The market value of an individual crude stream reflects its quality characteristics. Two of the most important quality characteristics are density and sulfur content. Density ranges from light to heavy, while sulfur content is characterized as sweet or sour. The crude oils represented in the chart are a selection of some of the crude oils marketed in various parts of the world. There are some crude oils both below and above the API gravity range shown in the chart.

Crude oils that are light (higher degrees of API gravity, or lower density) and sweet (low sulfur content) are usually priced higher than heavy, sour crude oils. This is partly because gasoline and diesel fuel, which typically sell at a significant premium to residual fuel oil and other "bottom of the barrel" products, can usually be more easily and cheaply produced using light, sweet crude oil. The light sweet grades are desirable because they can be processed with far less sophisticated and energy-intensive processes/refineries. The figure shows select crude types from around the world with their corresponding sulfur content and density characteristics.



References-Wikipedia

Jump up^ "Nelson Complexity Index" (PDF). pakpas.org. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
Jump up^ "Nelson Index". investopedia.com. Investopedia. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
Jump up^ David C. Johnston; Daniel Johnston (2006). Introduction to Oil Company Financial Analysis. PennWell Books. p. 199. ISBN 9781593700447. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
Jump up^ Johnston, Daniel (March 18, 1996). "Refining Report Complexity index indicates refinery capability, value". ogj.com. Oil and Gas Journal. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
Jump up^ "PMI-Oman 2014". pmioman14.wordpress.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
Jump up^ Nelson's Complexity Factor (PDF), Reliance Industries Ltd, retrieved 2009-02-28