Petronas NEWS

Petronas has completed a 50% farm-down of its participating interest in Block 52 offshore Suriname to ExxonMobil. The block covers an area of 4,749 sq. km, and is north of Paramaribo. Located in the Suriname-Guyana basin, where several major discoveries were made. Petronas’ upcoming exploration activities for Block 52 will involve the drilling of a well during Q3, while acquiring new 3D seismic data to evaluate the block's potential.

Indonesian state-run, PT Pertamina inked a framework agreement with Malaysia's Petronas to sell and buy crude this year. The deal, which was announced through a statement yesterday, will see Petronas and Pertamina swapping crude produced in the Malaysian fields of Kikeh, Kimanis and Kidurong with crude from Indonesian fields of Jabung and Ketapang. The agreement follows up from Petronas and Pertamina's plan last year to exchange crude.

Production & Development major, EnQuest has secured a production sharing contract (PSC) from Petronas for the Block PM409, offshore Malaysia. Enquest landed the contract through its wholly-owned subsidiary EnQuest Petroleum Production Malaysia (EnQuest) in partnership with Petronas Carigali (PCSB). While EnQuest will have an operating interest in the block with 85% stakes, while PCSB has the remaining 15% interest.

Petronas has set up a $350 million venture capital arm. The state firm's newly-launched Petronas Corporate Venture Capital is for industrial and energy investments. "The fund will act as a minority stakeholder in early to growth-stage companies", said the company. Petronas is Malaysia's largest employer and contributor to government revenue. The company has also informed that it is looking for investment opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Sources have informed that Malaysian state-run Petronas and Saudi Aramco have commenced operations at the new 1.2-million-tons-per-year naphtha cracker. The naphtha cracker is integral to the $2.7 billion joint-venture oil refinery and petrochemical project, Refinery, and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) is located in Pengerang in the state of Johor, Malaysia.

Petronas, the leading Malaysian oil and gas company, has announced its results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2019. The company reports a profit after tax (PAT) of about $3.4bn which represents a 9% increase on Q1 2018. Petronas ascribes this rise to higher volumes of sales for petroleum products along with the weakening effect of Malaysian Ringgit against the US dollar.

Malaysian state-owned Petronas has entered into a $1.29 billion deal to buy 50% of Petrobas’ exploration and production rights in Tartaruga Verde field and the Espadarte field. In a statement, the Brazilian state-run firm said that the deal amount will be paid in two installments. The deal is in line with Petrobras’ divestment strategy, under which it has already sold off $11.3 billion worth of assets.

Fire safety authorities, today, put out a fire at a Malaysian oil refinery owned by state-run oil major, Petronas. An explosion occurred early morning at the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID). A testing procedure was ongoing at the project for planned commercial operations later this year. RAPID is a 50-50 joint-venture between Petronas and Saudi Aramco.

Malaysian state-run Petronas yesterday released earnings report for the 2018 financial year. The oil major registered 22% hike in profits, to RM55.3 billion in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) from RM45.5 billion in 2017. President and group chief executive officer of Petronas said that the strong financial performance of the company in 2018 came from its current initiative to enhance operational efficiency and commercial excellence.

Indonesian oil major, Petronas has awarded Rowan Companies a drilling rig contract for its operations, offshore Mexico. The US-based offshore drilling contractor will deploy Rowan Renaissance, an R-Class ultra-deepwater drillship, for the one-well contract in Mexico. The 80-day contract is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2019. The Rowan Renaissance is currently deployed in Gulf of Mexico under a contract with French supermajor Total.

Malaysian state-owned Petronas has entered into a 20-year deal with Cheniere Energy Partners LP to buy LNG from the sixth plant at the Louisiana export terminal. Under the agreement, Petronas has agreed to purchase about 1.1 million tons a year from the Sabine Pass facility. The firms have agreed to index the purchase price to Henry Hub, plus a fee.

After a bidding held by Oman Oil Company, Malaysia’s Petronas informed that its subsidiary, PC Oman Ventures Ltd, will buy 10% stakes in Al Khazzan gas field of Oman. The subsidiary of Petronas will procure the stakes in Block 61 of the field and its expected production capacity is 1.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2020. Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production has 40% stakes in the block.

Texas-based engineering firm, Fluor Corporation has secured LNG Canada’s $14-billion EPFC contract in a joint venture with JGC Corporation. The JV will deliver engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction on the LNG Canada project. Fluor will receive $8.4-billion share from the contract. LNG Canada is a JV between Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and KOGAS.

Trade sources have revealed that Petronas and Saudi Aramco’s joint-venture Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) in Malaysia is all set to receive the first crude oil cargo by end-September. The VLCC Navarin is shipping 1 million barrels each of Saudi Arab Medium crude and Iraqi Basra Light crude to the $27 billion RAPID complex. Operations at the complex will commence from 2019.

As per sources, a meeting was held between Malaysian President, Petroleum Minister and Executive V.P. of Petronas. After the meeting, State Energy Company of the nation issued a statement informing that Petronas is interested in the oil blocks in South Sudan, aiming business expansion. The long halted crude output will be resumed in South Sudan after the five-year conflict. A peace agreement was signed last month regarding the same.

CGG of France has received a five-year contract from Petronas Carigali, a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Berhad, for the development of Center for Advanced Imaging. They have agreed to collaborate to get access to CGG’s latest technological advancement. CAI will help to fast-track tailored seismic processing and give closer and direct communication facility with imaging geophysicists. It will also provide multi-physics data from Petronas’ domain from all over the world.

Malaysian oil major, Petronas has adopted the asset optimization software of AspenTech to optimize its asset and maximize profitability at its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) facility in Pengerang, Johor. RAPID which is among six additional facilities is Petronas’ largest downstream investment in Malaysia. PETRONAS has deployed a bunch of other software to improve operational excellence at its facilities.

Malaysia-based Petronas acquired a 30% interest in Rufisque Offshore Profond block, offshore Senegal. The oil giant entered into a sale agreement with Total E&P in Senegal, which is the operator of the Rufisque block. The Rufisque block is spread across 10,357 km², and lies close to several other prospective oil blocks. Société Nationale des Pétroles du Sénégal (Petrosen) is the other partner in the block.