Petronas, todate, has invested RM61 billion in the upstream and downstream activities of Sabah’s petroleum sector

Petronas, todate, has invested RM61 billion in the upstream and downstream activities of Sabah’s petroleum sector, hence contributing significantly to the state’s development.

In disclosing this, Sabah and Labuan Petronas Office General Manager Joseph Podtung said the national oil corporation also contributed RM6.8 billion in royalties to Sabah’s revenue.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, he said Petronas had embarked on a number of projects to further develop the industry in an integrated manner following the recent discovery of oil and gas resources offshore Sabah.

These projects, involving a combined capital expenditure of RM45 billion, encompassed the development of the Sabah-Sarawak Integrated Oil and Gas Project.

It will comprise the upstream development of oil and gas fields offshore Sabah and the downstream development of the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal and the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline, said Podtung.

He also said Petronas and its production sharing partners were developing the Gumusut-Kakap, Kinabalu NAG and Kebabangan cluster fields and related infrastructure.

“About RM28.3 billion in capital expenditure is being spent to produce oil and gas resources from these highly challenging upstream areas,” he added.

On the RM3.8 million Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal, he said it was designed to receive 260,000 barrels of crude oil, per day, and 1,250 million standard cubic feet of gas, per day, from offshore.

“Crude oil from the terminal will be exported while the gas will be supplied to domestic consumers in Sabah and via the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline to the Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak,” he added.

Podtung said another project in the pipeline is the supply of gas feedstock to the RM1.5 billion plant being developed in Kimanis by Petronas Gas Bhd in partnership with Yayasan Sabah.

The 300 MW power plant will meet the growing demand for electricity in Sabah and will be an important component of the state’s electricity supply grid.

Meanwhile, Petronas Executive Vice-President for Gas and Power Business Datuk Anuar Ahmad said Petronas planned to set up a liquefied natural gas re-gasification terminal in Lahad Datu to feed natural gas to the proposed power plant in the area.

“If everything goes well, we expect construction of the terminal to begin next year,” he said, adding that the proposed plant was undertaken by a Tenaga Nasional Bhd-led consortium with Petronas and the state government.

Anuar also said the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal terminal and the power plant were expected to cost RM2.2 billion scheduled for completion in 2015.

“Petronas takes a long-term approach of all of its investment decisions, either domestically or overseas, to ensure growth, sustainability and optimum returns and benefits to stakeholders.

“We will continue to invest in Sabah and the discovery of new offshore resources will provide us the opportunity to develop and grow further in the state,” Anuar added.

1 Malaysian ringgit = 0.332613 U.S. dollars