VZCZCXRO1574
PP RUEHBC RUEHCHI RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDT RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHJS
RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHNH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHKL #1064/01 1720721
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 210721Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9538
INFO RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2351

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001064 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
CANBERRA FOR M. MATTHEWS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENGR EPET SENV ECON IR MY SA PGOV
SUBJECT: TRANS-PENINSULA PIPELINE: JUST A PIPEDREAM? 
 
REF: KUALA LUMPUR 00061 
 
 ¶1. (U) Summary:  According to recent press reports, the 
Malaysian Government has approved plans for a US$ 7 billion 
oil pipeline across northern peninsular Malaysia near the 
Thai border, with a large storage facility in the middle and 
a refinery at each end.  The pipeline is portrayed as a 
shorter and more secure alternative to shipment through the 
Straits of Malacca, through which about 18,000 crude carriers 
pass annually.  The GOM recently granted exclusive rights to 
develop the pipeline to Trans-Peninsula Petroleum (TPP), a 
small, little-known Malaysian company operated by two former 
Petronas executives.  At this stage, there appear to have 
been no serious assessments of the project,s economic 
viability or its potential environmental impact.  Moreover, 
there are no indications that the necessary financing is in 
place.  The Malaysian firm SKS Ventures has been approved to 
build the refinery in Yan at the west coast end of the 
pipeline.  (Note:  SKS Ventures is the same Malaysian company 
that reportedly signed an MOU with the National Iranian Oil 
Company (NIOC) to develop the Golshan and Ferdos gas fields 
in Iran (reftel)).   According to press reports, NIOC will 
help SKS Ventures finance the US$ 2.2 billion refinery, while 
a Saudi firm has signed a memorandum of agreement with TPP to 
"help secure oil supplies" for the pipeline.  Petronas, 
Malaysia's national oil company, does not appear to be 
involved.  Domestic politics may be a bigger driver for the 
project than the potential economic payoff.  End summary. 
 
----------------- 
Pipeline Partners 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  On May 28, Trans-Peninsula Petroleum Sdn. Bhd. 
(TPP), which holds exclusive rights from the Malaysian 
government to develop a trans-peninsular  pipeline from Kedah 
to Kelantan, signed several memoranda of agreement with 
partners, according to press reports.  These included 
Malaysian company Ranhill Engineers and Constructors and 
Indonesia's PT Tripatra Engineers and Consultants.  In 
addition, Indonesia's PT Bakrie & Brothers reportedly will 
supply the steel pipes and Saudi Arabia's Al-Banader 
International Group will help secure oil supplies.  The 
signing ceremony was witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister 
Abdullah Badawi and Indonesian President Dr. Susilo Bambang 
Yudhoyono on the margins of the Third World Islamic Economic 
Forum in Kuala Lumpur. 
 
---------------------- 
Purpose of the Project 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  The proposed pipeline is portrayed as a shorter and 
more secure alternative route for Middle Eastern crude oil en 
route to the Asia/Pacific region which would enable some 
vessels to avoid the congested Straits of Malacca.  According 
to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, approximately 43 
million barrels of crude oil are transported by ship each 
day.  More than 25 per cent of that volume transits the 
Straits of Malacca.  A trans-peninsular pipeline 
theoretically could provide an alternative that would reduce 
risks from piracy and terrorism while easing the expected 
increase in shipping traffic as the demand for energy grows 
in the Asia/Pacific region, especially in China.  Traffic 
congestion is aggravated periodically by the reduced 
visibility caused by a blanket of haze produced during 
several months of the year by raging brush fires in the 
region. 
 
------------------------------- 
Plans As Presented to the Press 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) The proposed 193-mile pipeline would run from Yan in 
the state of Kedah on the west coast to Bachok in the state 
of Kelantan on the east coast, with a storage facility midway 
between in Jeli, Kelantan.  The storage center would be 
designed to hold 90 percent of the system's capacity. 
Construction reportedly would begin in mid-2008, with the 
first phase completed in 2011, at which time the pipeline 
would become operational and generate income to help finance 
phases two and three.  The first phase is estimated to cost 
US$ 2.3 billion and would have a capacity of storing 60 
million barrels and transporting 2 million barrels per day 
(bpd).  At completion of the third phase, targeted for 2014, 
capacity would reach 180 million barrels of storage and 6 
million bpd throughput. 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001064  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶5.  (U) The project plans offshore mooring facilities at each 
end of the pipeline, built to accommodate Very Large Crude 
Carriers (VLCCs) which require a minimum depth of 25 meters. 
Many smaller Asia/Pacific ports cannot accommodate such large 
carriers because of depth requirements; for example, the 
maximum depth of the Port of Hong Kong is 15.5 meters. 
Therefore, oil destined for Hong Kong is carried on smaller 
ships such as the Aframax class, with only a 60-80,000 ton 
capacity as compared to the 210-250,000 ton capacity of a 
VLCC.  TPP claimed to the media that 60 per cent of the crude 
carriers passing through the Malacca Straits are smaller 
vessels, which take on average 21 days to travel from the 
Middle East to Japan or China.  The proposed pipeline would 
allow VLCCs to transport crude from the Middle East to Yan 
where it would be pumped into the pipeline.  Smaller Aframax 
carriers would fill up at Bachok and transport the crude to 
Asia/Pacific ports.  TPP predicts the pipeline would divert 
about 20 per cent of the crude being shipped through the 
Straits. 
 
--------------------------- 
Pressure on the Environment 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U)  Malaysia,s Department of Environment has not 
received an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and does 
not plan to begin an evaluation until after the companies 
have submitted financial protocols to the Ministry of 
Finance, according to press reports.  The proposed route 
traverses the Titiwangsa mountain range, several major 
rivers, and Lake Temengor in the Belum Forest Preserve.  TPP 
reportedly is working with the state governments of Kedah, 
Perak, and Kelantan to acquire a 100-meter wide corridor of 
land across the three states.  Opposition MPs have raised 
concerns in Parliament over the delay and possible avoidance 
of an EIA and claim the GOM is looking for loopholes to 
commence the project without concern for environmental impact. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  An Amcit engineer working for a large 
international oil company told econoff that it would take 
about 40 hours to empty a VLCC into the pipeline.  He was 
skeptical of claims that much time would be saved, and even 
more concerned about potential environmental implications, 
including those involved with building and maintaining the 
pipeline and the increased risks of spillage and leakage 
involved with pumping the crude off the ship, across the 
peninsula, and then back onto another ship at the other end. 
A similar project was proposed in 2004 for the Isthmus of Kra 
in Southern Thailand, but never materialized although the 
distance involved would be shorter and the terrain less 
challenging. 
 
------------------- 
Profit or Politics? 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) How the pipeline will be financed remains unclear. 
TPP is not listed on the Bursa Malaysia; therefore, little 
information is available on the company.  A press report 
described TPP as a "small, loss-making company owned by two 
little-known Malaysian businessmen."  Parliamentary sources 
characterize TPP as a very small entity, registered in the 
state of Perak and with a listed capital base of RM 150,000 
(about US$ 45,000).  Press reports attribute 
self-contradictory statements to both the GOM and TPP with 
regard to whether this would be a completely private, 
for-profit venture or a government-led "development 
initiative."  In April, Deputy Prime Minister Najib was 
quoted as insisting that the proposal was "purely a 
commercial initiative."  However, on May 7 Prime Minister 
Abdullah was quoted saying that the project was one of the 
government's major initiatives to develop Malaysia's northern 
and eastern regions.  On May 28, the press quoted TPP 
Chairman Mohamed Kamil Sulaiman saying, "The savings in using 
our pipeline to the oil producers, to oil traders, is enough 
to even pay for one month of storage."  However, on May 29 
another press article reported that an unnamed TPP source had 
said the company wanted the GOM to have a "golden share," 
giving the federal government veto rights over other 
shareholders, and saying that the project was an essential 
element of the national economic development plan for the 
northern and eastern corridors. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Bachok, the proposed east coast endpoint of the 
pipeline, is little more than a fishing village just south of 
Kota Bharu, the state's capital city.  However, it happens to 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001064  003 OF 003 
 
 
be located in the home district of Deputy Finance Minister 
and UMNO parliamentarian Awang Adek.  The State Government of 
Kelantan is controlled by the opposition Islamic Party of 
Malaysia, PAS, which holds a mere one-seat majority in the 
state assembly.  In typical rivalry, PAS wants the endpoint 
of the pipeline in the PAS-controlled parliamentary district 
of Tumpat, located just north of Kota Bharu nearly on the 
Thai border, where port facilities already exist.  Jeli, the 
proposed site for the storage facility, is the home district 
of Minister of Higher Education Mustapa Mohamed.  Yan, at the 
western end, is the home turf for Syed Mokhtar, owner of SKS, 
one of Malaysia,s richest men and a strong financial 
supporter of UMNO. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Skepticism Among Petroleum Professionals 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) An Amcit shipping industry executive told econoff 
he had mixed views about the project.  On the one hand, he 
was skeptical that the pipeline would be economically viable, 
given the high costs involved in building it and the minimal 
time and distance saved.  However, he pointed out that 
economic viability might not be the driving factor.  Rather, 
he saw the project as part of a broader attempt by 
Malaysia,s leaders to cozy up to the Islamic world, pointing 
to NIOC's agreement to help finance SKS Ventures' refinery in 
Yan and Petronas' eagerness to do business with both Iran and 
Sudan.  Moreover, given current oil prices, oil companies 
around the world are trying to maximize production, he said. 
The shipbuilding industry can't keep up with demand, and oil 
companies in the Middle East are absorbing Malaysian human 
capital, offering people with any experience in the industry 
three to six times their current salaries.  If oil prices 
remain what they are, he said, congestion in the Straits of 
Malacca will only worsen, increasing the need for such a 
pipeline. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Several Malaysian oil and gas industry experts 
also expressed mild skepticism in conversations with econoff 
about the pipeline, but none was prepared to dismiss the idea 
completely.  One Malaysian executive working for a large 
energy company told econoff he had heard a number of people 
speculate that TPP was just a front company for someone else 
-- how could a small, unknown company have the capacity for 
such a massive, multi-billion dollar project?  He also found 
it strange that Petronas was not involved.  Separately, a 
reporter told poloff that Petronas did not want to have 
anything to do with the project. 
 
---------------------- 
Pipeline or Pipedream? 
---------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Comment:  The typical order of business for major 
projects in Malaysia is:  someone has vision, companies rush 
in to acquire "exclusive rights," and only after that are 
feasibility studies conducted, numbers crunched, and 
environmental impacts (possibly) assessed.  With an expected 
world-wide shortage of refinery capacity over the next 
decade, the package might be more attractive for the proposed 
refineries at each end than the pipeline connecting them.  At 
this stage, deals have been struck on paper, but there 
appears to have been no solid analysis of the economic 
viability or the environmental risks of this project. 
However, these might not be the deciding factors.  If 
Malaysian federal and/or state governments step in to assist, 
construction contracts and other deliverables to favored 
parties may become more important than the payoff from the 
completed project.  With elections expected before spring 
2008, pipeline development would provide many opportunities 
to reward UMNO supporters with lucrative contracts regardless 
of whether or not the project makes long-term sense.  The 
refinery and pipeline in Bachok would be seen as a potential 
UMNO deliverable and might just tip the balance in a 
PAS-controlled state shortly before the election.  If 
environmental concerns subsequently stymied the project, it 
would offer a face-saving way out after the election, even if 
UMNO carries the state.  In any case, until financing is 
secured this pipeline is probably just a pipedream. 
LAFLEUR