Petronas signs joint-venture agreement with Madras Refineries for marketing LPG

MALAYSIAN petroleum and oil company, Petronas, has signed a joint-venture agreement with Madras Refineries Ltd (MRL) for the marketing of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in south India.

The agreement was signed on Friday in Madras by MRL chairman and managing director, S Ramalingam, and Petronas' chairman and chief executive officer, Azizan Zainul Abidin.

The two companies have worked together in the past, with MRL imparting training to the staff of Petronas in human resources development programmes.

'We have taken advantage of the new policy permitting parallel marketing of petroleum products,' said Mr Ramalingam. 'The import of LPG is being allowed at a concessional duty of 15 per cent.' The gas is to be imported from Malaysia, the Middle East and other countries, but Mr Ramalingam clarified that it will not be used by MRL in its operations.

A new company, to be called MRL Petronas Petroleum, will invest between 1.2 and 1.5 billion rupees (about HK$304 million and $380 million) to establish facilities like a separate port, two LPG bottling plants, an on-shore terminal, and a handling and marketing network.

The location of the plant is yet to be decided.

Three locations are under consideration; Pondicherry, Ennore and Narimanam in the Cauvery river basin.