Johor has not received any proposal from Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co of Taiwan to set up a petrochemical plant in the southern state, said Johor Mentri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman.

“Not with the state government, definitely not,” he told reporters after attending the announcement ceremony of Petronas’ refinery and petrochemicals integrated development project today in Kuala Lumpur.

The controversial company was said to want to set up a petrochemical plant in Malaysia after facing protests in Taiwan.

NONE The Taiwanese have been objecting strongly over the past few months to the company’s plan to build an oil refinery and naphtha cracking plant in the Dacheng Wetlands in Changhua County.

Critics said the costs would outweigh the benefits, in addition to damaging the oyster and eel farming industries and a zone inhabited by the Chinese white dolphin that is fast becoming extinct. The plant would also allegedly pose a serious threat to human health.

NONE Taiwan Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang had recently raised the possibility of Kuokuang moving the project to either Malaysia or Indonesia.

A previous news report had quoted the International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Mukhriz Mahathir as saying that the ministry would welcome the investment.

However the Minister, Mustapa Mohamed, had earlier said that the ministry has yet to receive any proposal from the company.

Abdul Ghani has denied that the company had approached the Johor state government.

“Not the company you mentioned, from what he (Petronas president and chief operating officer Shamsul Azhar Abbas) mentioned to me it is a huge and major oil and gas petrochemical Taiwan company,” Abdul Ghani said.

Petronas’ new refinery project

Petronas announced today that it plans to embark on the new refinery and petrochemicals integrated development project at Pengerang in southern Johor which costs about US$20 billion.

NONE The announcement was made by the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( left ), who however did not stay back for the press conference because he was rushing for a flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend a lunch invitation from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

When asked on the same issue, Shamsul said the national oil company has yet to decide on which foreign company would be involved in the project.

“I can’t confirm that but we have a list of companies,” he said during the press conference called after the announcement.

He added that Petronas would only be able to identify its foreign partners after the product specification of the refinery is finalised in September this year.