Myanmar hopes to resume No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery, Kyaukphyu Project
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Written by Tun Mon Thet
Some halting projects in Myanmar are hoping to re-operate or develop the implementations within an upcoming short period since Myanmar and China have signed the addendum for the implementation of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port Project in Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone; and the No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery has been greenlighted to re-operate the factory’s functions.
The signing ceremony to prepare the Concession Agreement for the implementation of the Kyaukphyu Project was conducted in Naypyidaw on 26 December.
Kyaukphyu, located in Rakhine State, is a strategic town in the CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor) which stretches approximately 1,700 kilometers. Commencing from Kunming City of Yunnan Province, China, the CMEC will pass the route to the middle part of Myanmar, Mandalay. Then, it will connect to the strategically situated city ‘Kyaukphyu’ as a gateway to the Andaman Sea.
Although an initial agreement for the project worth USD 9-10 billion, the KP SEZ was shrunk and budgeted as the first phase with USD 1.5 billion by the National League for Democratic ruling government despite its valuable economic opportunities. There involved a 1,400-kilometer high-speed Kunming-Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railroad in the planned KP SEZ.
Another potential progress within this week that should not be left in the section of ‘News In-Focus’ is a plan to restart the operations of the No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery in soon following the country’s experience of frequent shortage of fuel in big cities.
Chairman of the State Administration Council Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called for a prompt implementation to re-operate the No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery’s functions and to upgrade the factory. He visited the factory last week.
Largely reliant on imported fuel, vehicles, mostly in Yangon, encountered lengthy queues at the filling stations amid the difficulties of purchasing fuel with remaining skyrocketed prices. The resumption of the No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery is projected to fulfill the domestic energy requirement. the re-functioning of the factory is also expected to reduce the cost of importing fuel and other opportunity costs.
The No.1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery has been halted since 2017 under the NLD ruling government. The factory was one of the 55 projects that were directed to cease operations by the NLD government in 2017 providing the reason that projects or enterprises with net loss.
The No. 1 Thanlyin Oil Refinery has three Crude Oil Distillation Units (COD) – one Coker plant, one candle plant, one SBP (Special Boiling Point) Plant, and one lube oil blending unit. Myanmar Liquefied Terminal (MLT) was constructed in 1985. The factory previously processed only local crude oil and then processed imported crude oil starting in 1990. –