State oil firm Petronas has once again delayed the startup of its US$19 bn petrochemicals complex in Malaysia to 2018, due to the need of securing water supplies, catering for proposed international partners, as well as relocating villages from the 2,000 hectare site. The complex is designed to have a refining capacity of 300 kbpd, a naphtha cracker, petrochemicals and polymer facilities as well as specialty chemical production plants operated by international petrochemical giants such as Italy’s Versalis SpA, Japan’s Itochu and Bangkok-listed PTT Global Chemical. The delay of this petrochemical complex start-up will definitely slow the Malaysian economy, whose oil and gas sector makes up a fifth of its GDP.