KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has roped in Italy-based Versalis SpA to jointly own, develop, construct and operate elastomer plants within the national oil group's proposed RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) complex in Pengerang, Johor.
Last Tuesday, the two companies signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) to form a joint- venture company to produce and market synthetic rubbers using Versalis' technology licence and technical know-how.
In a statement yesterday, Petronas said the elastomer plants would be part of the world-scale facilities to be developed within the Rapid complex.
Petronas said Versalis would bring into the partnership proven elastomer operation records and wealth of experience and expertise that would significantly contribute towards strengthening Petronas and Malaysia's position as a key downstream petrochemical player in the region.
Headquartered in Milan, Versalis, formerly known as Polimeri Europa, is a petrochemical company wholly-owned by Itali's oil and gas group Eni SpA.
It manages the production and marketing of a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, using a range of proprietary technologies and state-of-the-art production systems and a wide-reaching and efficient distribution network.
The HoA was the fourth of such arrangement secured by Petronas for Rapid.
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