Malaysia’s national oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) is planning to resume operations of the gas pipeline, which is under force majeure, by the first quarter of next year, reported Reuters, citing a senior company executive.
In October 2022, Petronas announced a force majeure on the supply of gas to Malaysia LNG Dua production facility at Petronas LNG Complex (PLC) in Bintulu, Sarawak, owing to a pipeline leak at its Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline triggered by soil movement.
The Malaysian firm plans to complete an investigation into the disruption of the gas supply by the middle of this year.
Petronas LNG marketing and trading vice-president Shamsairi Ibrahim was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Our plan is to complete the work by Q1 2024.”
The restart of facility is subject to local authorities’ approval.
Shamsairi told the news agency in an interview that Petronas is also in talks to extend its long-term contracts with its Japanese customers.
Currently, Petronas has long-term supply contracts with Japanese gas distributors including Osaka Gas and Tokyo Gas. Some of the contracts are scheduled to expire this year and 2024.
Recently, Petronas’ wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) agreed to farm out 50% stake in the Samarang production sharing contract (PSC), offshore Sabah, East Malaysia, to SMJ Sdn Bhd (SMJSB), a wholly-owned entity by the Sabah state government.
The Samarang PSC comprises key oil and gas hubs in Sabah. It currently has production of about 36,000 barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day.
