Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to open Petronas' RM16.6 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Sarawak o­n Thursday.

The official Bernama news agency today described the LNG facility in Bintulu as the "the world's largest LNG production facility o­n a single location."

Owned by the state-controlled oil company Petronas, the facility consists of three plants with total production capacity of 22.7 million tonnes a year, it said.

Bernama

said the complex was complete with storage tanks and loading jetties for the LNG to be stored and exported to overseas customers via special tankers.

The three plants currently employ about 850 people.

Third largest exporter

The plant had began operation in 1983. Up to March, 2003, some 188 million tonnes of LNG had been shipped from the complex, generating RM137.18 billion in revenue.

Most of the LNG is exported to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where Malaysia's share of their LNG markets stands at 25 percent, 49 percent and 21 percent respectively.

Malaysia is presently the third largest LNG exporter in the world, accounting for 13 percent or 15 million tonnes global exports annually, after Indonesia and Algeria.

In 2002, LNG accounted for 5.6 percent of Malaysia's gross national product and three percent of its gross exports. - AFP