Malaysian energy giant Petronas reported a rise in its liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales in the first quarter, while its profit decreased by 11 percent compared to the year before.
The company’s LNG sales rose by 11.4 percent year-on-year to 9.89 million tonnes during January-March compared to 8.88 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2023.
Sales rose compared to 8.95 million tonnes in the previous quarter.
Petronas said its gross LNG sales volume increased by 1.01 million tonnes compared to the same period last year mainly due to higher plant production and better trading opportunity.
The company’s gas business reported a revenue of 31.5 billion ringgit ($6.69 billion), down by 3 percent compared to the same quarter in 2023 mainly due to lower average realised prices of LNG, Petronas said.
112 Bintulu LNG cargoes
During the first quarter, Petronas delivered 112 LNG cargoes from the giant 30 mtpa Bintulu LNG export facility in Sarawak.
This is up by three cargoes compared to 109 shipments in the first quarter of 2023.
Petronas also completed 91,000 cbm of LNG Bunkering vessel deliveries to the marine industry in Malaysia, and it delivered 249 trucks to remotely located customers across Malaysia.
The Bintulu plant, which has shipped more than 12,000 LNG cargoes since it started operations back in 1983, consists of nine trains and supplies key demand centers such as Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan.
The LNG complex includes MLNG Satu, MLNG Dua, MLNG Tiga, and the most recent Train 9 which started commercial operations in 2017.
Petronas resumed full operations at the LNG complex on May 19, 2024, following a power loss incident which took place on May 11.
FLNG
Besides the onshore facilities, Petronas continues to expand its FLNG business and last year it awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning (EPCC) contract for the nearshore floating LNG project in Sabah.
Japan’s LNG engineer JGC and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy are building the third floating LNG producer for Petronas and the unit will have capacity of 2 mtpa. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Upon completion, the nearshore LNG plant will increase Petronas’ LNG production from floating LNG facilities from 2.7 mtpa to 4.7 mtpa.
Currently, Petronas operates two floating LNG facilities, namely the 1.2 mtpa PFLNG Satu, as well as the 1.5 mtpa PFLNG Dua, both located offshore Sabah.
Petronas has delivered 10 LNG cargoes from these two floating LNG producers during the first quarter.
This is up by one cargo compared to nine cargoes in the same period last year.
Profit drops
Petronas reported profit of 21.3 billion ringgit ($4.52 billion) in the first quarter, down 11 percent from 23.8 billion ringgit in the same period in 2023, while its revenue of 89.7 billion ringgit was slightly higher from 89.3 billion ringgit.
The company said it has maintained its revenue in the first quarter amid “prolonged volatility in the pricing landscape”.
Petronas recorded Ebitda of 36.2 billion ringgit, down by 6 percent mainly due to higher operating expenditure and cash payments, it said.
Petronas added it is progressing at pace to strengthen its core business by continuing towards completion of the Kasawari gas field Development in Malaysia and the LNG plant in Canada by the end of the year.
The firm is a partner in the Shell-led LNG Canada terminal which is expected to launch commercial operations in 2025.