THE government has disbursed RM1 million each to five petroleum companies to bolster the production of palm oil-based biodiesel.
The five oil majors are Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BHP.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
said the money has been given out via the Malaysian Palm Oil Board so
that the oil giants can start to build new or upgrade existing biodiesel
facilities at their respective depots.
“I want this project to
start right away so that biodiesel can be sold to the public by June
2011,” Dompok told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after launching
the third International Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar.
He said the money can be spent on engaging a consultant, laying out pipes and valves systems and building storage tanks.
He said the biodiesel facilities will be built at existing oil depots
in the Klang Valley, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Malacca, and will be
extended nationwide later on.
The location of the biodiesel
depots are the Klang Valley depot terminal (a joint venture between
Petronas, Exxon Mobil and Shell), Port Dickson terminal of which Shell
and Exxon Mobil each has one terminal, and Tangga Batu in Malacca owned
by Petronas.
Other locations are in Pulau Indah in Selangor
with terminals each owned by BHP and Chevron Malaysia producing the B5
biodiesel, which is a combination of 5 per cent oil palm and 95 per cent
fossil fuel-based diesel.
There are some 4.000 government
vehicles powered by biodiesel since February 2009, mainly owned by the
Armed Forces and City Hall.
Source : Business Times
