Petronas Sees Potential In India's LNG Market

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) sees great potential for growth in India, the fourth largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) market in the world. Hence, Petronas is keen to explore opportunities in the Indian LNG market and is working to establish a liaison office to help grow its business in the country, its President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said. "India has always been an important market for Petronas as we see great potential to grow further with our partners and customers," he said in a statement released after series of receptions held for partners and customers in Mumbai and New Delhi. He said Petronas was keen to explore opportunities in the Indian LNG market and was working to establish a liaison office to help expand its business in the country. "With decades of experience as an integrated end-to-end LNG player and currently the third-largest producer of LNG in the world, Petronas boasts a sterling reputation of being a reliable supplier among its LNG customers," he said. Over the years, the company has also expanded the scale of its production facilities in Bintulu, a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia, and invested in new projects. "I’m also exceptionally proud that our world's first floating LNG facility, PFLNG Satu, was completed earlier this year. "PFLNG Satu is a true industry game changer that allows us to monetise stranded gas assets and is currently undergoing commissioning. The first cargo is expected in the first quarter of 2017," he said. As part of its business strategy, Petronas will continue to invest in expanding its capacity in commodity chemicals and refined products, and enhance its product offerings to include differentiated and specialty chemicals for its customers worldwide. This will be supported by the Sabah Ammonia Urea project (SAMUR) which is on track for commercial operations in the fourth quarter of this year. SAMUR will have an estimated annual output of 2.6 million metric tonnes, making PETRONAS the second largest granular urea producer in Southeast Asia. Petronas is also embarking on the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) located in Malaysia's southern state of Johor. It is a single largest integrated downstream investment in the country to date, scheduled to commence operations in 2019. -- BERNAMA