KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and the Sabah government are expanding their collaboration in the oil and gas industry through a heads of agreement signed tpday between Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas, and SMJ Sdn Bhd (SMJSB), a company wholly owned by Sabah.
The HoA paves the way for SMJSB’s potential acquisition of a 50% participation interest in the Samarang Production Sharing Contract (PSC). The Samarang field is about 50km offshore Sabah.
The agreement was signed between PCSB’s CEO, Hasliza Othman, and SMJSB CEO, Dr Dionysia Aloysius Kibat. It was witnessed by Petronas president and group CEO, Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor and Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
Tengku Taufik said, “Petronas shares Sabah’s aspirations for mutual prosperity even as we both pursue sustainable development. Having SMJSB on board as our upstream business partner underscores Petronas’ efforts to build a more inclusive environment for the oil and gas industry in Sabah, both offshore and onshore.”
SMJBS’s potential participation in the Samarang PSC demonstrates Petronas’ continued commitment under the commercial collaboration agreement to develop and unlock the full potential of Sabah’s oil and gas industry, he added.
The Samarang PSC is a producing asset encompassing key oil and gas hubs in Sabah. Currently it is producing about 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for both oil and gas.
Earlier this year, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd signed an HoA which welcomed SMJSB as its partner to Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd with a 25% of equity interest in Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah, as part of its efforts in providing for greater revenue sharing with the Sabah GLC.
On Feb 15, PCSB and E&P Malaysia Venture L a letter of understanding with SMJSB on the back-in option arrangement on Block SB409 PSC, giving the Sabah government up to 20% participating interest upon completion of work commitment or commercial discovery, whichever is earlier.