Plans to develop Tanjung Langsat Port into a facility targeting the oil and gas (O & G) sector by 2012 are on track despite the expected slowdown in the global economy and the fall in crude oil price to below US$90 a barrel. Johor Corp chief operating officer Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim said the demand for crude oil had not slowed and several more investments in the port were in the pipeline. Johor Corp, through subsidiary Tanjung Langsat Port Sdn Bhd is the developer of the 908-acre port, of which 289 acres have yet to be reclaimed from the sea. Kamaruzzaman was speaking to reporters after the signing of a 30-year land lease agreement between Tanjung Langsat and Asiaflex Products Sdn Bhd a subsidiary of French engineering, technology and construction services group Technip. The agreement would see Tanjung Langsat construct a specialised cargo wharf worth RM130mil for Asiaflex, which would make an initial RM500mil investment for a manufacturing plant on the land. Construction is expected to commence in the second quarter. It would also see Asiaflex pay Tanjung Langsat at one-off fee of RM54 mil. "Similar agreements will be signed with other companies," Kamaruzzaman Said. He added that an agreement was also signed with Dialog Group Bhd last year under which Dialog would jointly develop an RM600mil tank terminal with Trafigura Beheer BV, a Dutch Oil Trader. To date, Tanjung Langsat Port has spent RM200mil to develop the port and facilities. Technip president and chief operating officer Bernard di Tullio said the plant would start operation in the middle of 2010 to manufacture flex pipes for the O & G sector, targeting the Asia-Pacific and India markets. He said the plant, with an annual capacity for 200km of 8-inch normalised pipes, would initially target to ship 20,000 tonnes of products a year. "While it's premature to say how much more we'll be investing in the plant aside from the initial RM500mil, we're looking to expand it with a further RM300mil (at current prices) to manufacture umbilicals (control lines to operate subsea wellheads from a platform or a vessel)," di Tullio said. | 
