Executive chairman Ngau Boon Keat said the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would be approved by next month or early March.

“Subject to the EIA approval, the big investment decisions will go ahead,” he told a media briefing here following the third update of the Economic Transformation Programme yesterday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The first of the three-phase project to be completed by 2013 or early 2014 and the entire 500-acre terminal to be completed by 2017.

Ngau said Royal Vopak, the joint-venture partner in the project, would help to operate the terminal as well as draw customers. Dialog has a 51% stake in the partnership with the remainder held by Vopak. The Johor state government which is giving a 60-year lease on the land on which the terminal would be built, would participate via a 10% stake.

“For a single terminal, this will be one of the largest in the world with a storage capacity of five million cubic metres,” Ngau said.

He estimated RM50bil to RM100bil of additional investments once the terminal was completed from others in the oil and gas value chain. “This is a good opportunity to develop the southern-half of Johor,” he said.

The Pengerang deepwater petroleum terminal project was among three significant oil and gas projects announced by Najib, the others being Exxon Mobil Corp’s and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd’s over RM10bil investment for the rejuvenation of facilities and Shell Malaysia’s RM5.1bil which included investments along the entire oil and gas value chain.

Ngau said there was a need to establish downstream facilities to complement the oil and gas industry.

“There’s a huge opportunity in petrol storage terminals which in turn will open up other areas of the industry,” he said.