LNG

Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned energy company with oil and gas projects and onshore and offshore LNG production plants, reported quarterly net profits down by a third while expecting its cargo portfolio to increase after LNG Canada comes on stream and overall cargo sales and prices to improve.

Venture Global LNG, owner of the newest US export plant at Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana and with three other projects in development, has signed up Malaysian energy company Petronas for a 20-year supply deal.

Thailand’s state-run exploration and production company PTTEP, which has stakes in Malaysian floating LNG and a Mozambican LNG project, reported almost 40 percent of growth in earnings in the first nine months due to higher natural gas output and prices.

Malaysian Energy company Petronas has announced the launch of its LNG delivery service by truck for off-grid small-scale customers across Peninsular Malaysia from the regasification terminal at Pengerang in the state of Johor.

“Petronas provides industries in Peninsular Malaysia that are not connected to the natural gas infrastructure with an option to switch to gas as an alternative form of cleaner energy,” said the company.

As part of the pilot phase, Petronas completed its first delivery of LNG to a tyre manufacturing plant for the company, Continental Tyre Alor Setar Malaysia.

“The solution forms a part of Petronas’s commitment to environmental sustainability and to drive the growth of natural gas usage in Malaysia,” said Adnan Zainal Abidin, a Petronas Executive Vice President and Chief Executive of the company’s Gas and New Energy division.

He said that by establishing the necessary infrastructure the national oil and gas company offers customers a cleaner and competitive form of energy for power.

“We achieve this by embracing our customers pain-points in our strategies which results in strong collaborations across Petronas’s value chain to provide an integrated solution,” he explained.

“Ultimately, we provide a one-stop centre for off-grid customers, covering supply, loading facilities and logistic services to ensure that their cleaner energy needs are met,” he added.

“The launch of our latest solution is a testament to how Petronas delivers customer-centric solutions through our focus on innovation,” stated Adnan.

Along with other global energy companies, Petronas recently posted a loss due to lower prices and a curtailment of economic activity because of Covid-19.

Petronas reported a first-half loss of 16.5Bln Malaysian ringgit ($3.97Bln) and a 23 percent year-on-year reduction in revenue to 93.6Bln ringgit ($22.5 billion) on the back of lower average realised prices and a drop in sales volumes for processed gas and LNG.

The company said that it was looking at ways of cutting costs, including wage cuts to avoid reducing its number of employees.

Petronas President and Chief Executive Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz, said the company was considering pay cuts for its more than 47,000 employees in the light of the continued challenging market conditions.

Petronas, the Malaysian state energy company and stakeholder in major LNG projects from Australia to Canada, has formally installed its new President and Group Chief Executive Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz in succession to Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.

PTTEP of Thailand, the oil and gas producer and LNG stakeholder, said it was aiming to maximize the value of existing projects and was proceeding with the development of the Mozambican Area 1 project with its partners and the Algeria Hassi Bir Rekaizto venture to contribute to long-term growth.

Qatar has hosted its latest two-day Doha Forum in the Arab Gulf state where participants heard pledges from the Qataris to regain the No.1 spot in liquefied natural gas production and to boost global volumes with joint ventures such as one in the US.

Malaysian energy company Petronas said it had sucessfully moved its “PFLNG Satu” floating LNG production hull to the Kebabangan field offshore Sabah and introduced the first feed-gas volumes, while the initial cargo was expected to be shipped within weeks.

The “PFLNG Satu” had previously been located over the Kanowit stranded gas field offshore Sarawak where it became the world’s first FLNG vessel to start commercial operations in 2017.

It has now been moved to a location 90 kilometres offshore Sabah, the Malaysian state on the northern part of the island of Borneo, and is starting liquefaction of gas from the Kebabangan cluster field.

The first LNG cargo delivery from the new field is scheduled to take place in June.

“The introduction of first gas into the ‘PFLNG Satu’ was to the turret system via a 5-kilometre flexible pipeline,” said Petronas.

“The commencement of a series of start-up activities included the cooling down of natural gas until the production of the first LNG,” it added.

The Petronas Vice President of LNG Assets, Zakaria Kasah, said the moving of the FLNG hull showcases the company’s focused execution and collaboration efforts.

“We not only prove our concept of a relocatable floating LNG facility, but we have also seamlessly achieved the first LNG in just three days after first gas,” added Kasah.

“This is indeed another proud moment and a great milestone for Petronas and the floating LNG industry,” he stated.

Designed for water-depth of between 70 metres and 200 metres and with a processing capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum, the “FLNG Satu” operates with a crew of 155 onboard.

Petronas is also developing a second FLNG venture using another vessel to be deployed over the deepwater Rotan gas field, about 80 miles offshore Sabah.

Its joint venture partner is the Thai state energy company PTTEP, which purchased its stake from Murphy Oil, the US exploration and production company.

The Rotan gas well was discovered by Murphy in 2007. The Rotan field FLNG vessel is being designed to produce 1.5 MTPA.

Murphy Oil, the US exploration and production company whose Rotan natural gas discovery offshore Malaysia is the subject of a floating LNG joint venture, has sold its Malaysian assets for more than $2 billion to Thailand state energy company PTT Exploration and Production.

Global commodities companies are continuing to increase their volumes of liquefied natural gas trading volumes from international oil and gas companies and state-owned energy firms.