Malaysian energy giant Petronas reported a rise in its third-quarter liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales while its profit rose on the back of higher oil and gas prices.
Total LNG sales during July-September rose 13.1 percent year-on-year to 8.51 million tonnes. This compares to 7.52 million tonnes in the third-quarter last year and 8.44 million tonnes in the prior quarter.
“Gross LNG sales volume increased by 0.99 million tonnes mainly due to higher plant production in line with higher demand,” Petronas said in its quarterly report released on Wednesday.
During the January-September period, the company’s LNG sales volumes reached 25.33 million tonnes, a rise of 3 percent when compared to 24.60 million tonnes in the same period last year.
301 Bintulu LNG cargoes
During the nine-month period, Petronas delivered 301 LNG cargoes from the giant 30 mtpa Bintulu LNG export facility in Sarawak, and completed 1943 virtual pipeline system and LNG bunkering deliveries.
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.
In October, Petronas declared force majeure on gas supply to Malaysia LNG Dua’s facility at the Bintulu LNG complex. The move followed a pipeline leak caused by soil movement.
MLNG Dua operates the second liquefaction facility as part of the complex.
The Bintulu LNG complex includes MLNG Satu, MLNG Dua, MLNG Tiga, and the most recent Train 9 which started commercial operations in 2017.
33 cargoes from floating LNG producers
Besides the onshore facilities, Petronas continues to work on its FLNG business.
It shipped the first cargo in March last year from its second floating LNG producer located in the Rotan gas field, offshore Sabah.
The 1.5 mtpa PFLNG Dua joined the 1.2 mtpa PFLNG Satu located offshore Sabah as well.
Petronas said it had delivered 33 LNG cargoes from these two floating LNG producers during the January-September period.
On top of these these two FLNGs, Petronas also plans to build a third unit and it has awarded two front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts for the nearshore FLNG project in Sabah.
Profit, revenue up
Petronas reported profit of 30.8 billion ringgit ($6.92 billion) for the third quarter, compared to 16.3 billion ringgit in the year before.
Profit more than doubled from 35.1 billion ringgit in the nine-month period last year to 77.1 billion ringgit this year.
Revenue increased 61 percent to 99.2 billion ringgit in the third quarter while it increased 58 percent to 271.3 billion ringgit in the January-September period.
Petronas said oil and gas prices would “remain volatile, influenced by intensifying geopolitical and economic headwinds.”
“In the face of the unprecedented global energy crisis, Petronas will focus on safely delivering commercial and operational excellence,” the firm said.