Malaysian consortium mulls setting up oil refinery in China

Three Malaysian companies will form a consortium to study the possibility of setting up a US$1 billion (Ђ833 million) crude oil refinery in China, one of the companies said in a statement Wednesday.

The proposed refinery, to be located in the northern province of Jiangsu, will have a capacity to refine up to 10 million tons of crude oil a year, said Rimbunan Hijau, one of the members in the consortium.

The other partners are Kumpulan Jetson Bhd. and Binali Jaya Sdn. Bhd. Preliminary feasibility studies are now being conducted, the statement said.

China's oil imports are expected to soar from 2.5 million barrels a day now to almost 10 million barrels a day in 2030, equal to 80 percent of the country's domestic demand, the Rimbunan Hijau statement said.

Diversified Rimbunan Hijau has interests in logging, timber processing, agriculture, insurance, banking, media, shipping, mining and property development. Binali Jaya is a construction unit of Rimbunan Hijau.

Kumpulan Jetson is involved in construction, property development and plastics manufacturing, AP reported.