Malaysia’s Petronas has entered into a strategic collaboration with China’s Sinopec to explore opportunities in several fields, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading.
Petronas said in a statement the memorandum of understanding signifies the commitment of both companies in “ensuring a resilient and affordable energy supply to foster economic growth and development in the Asia Pacific region while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
The collaboration will focus on sustainable growth in the areas of commodity and specialty chemicals, crude oil and LNG trading, lubricants, and digital solutions as well as drive decarbonization efforts for various industries such as transportation, shipping, manufacturing, aviation and power.
Petronas and Sinopec have fostered a partnership since 1997, initially established through a production sharing contract in South Sudan to conduct exploration and production work together with other partners.
It has since extended across the gas and downstream sectors including the delivery of LNG and petrochemical products to support Sinopec’s gas terminal expansion plan as well as sourcing for a wide range of applications to other industries, Petronas said.
Petronas reported a rise in its LNG sales in the first quarter.
The company’s LNG sales rose by 11.4 percent year-on-year to 9.89 million tonnes during January-March.
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 has also delivered 10 LNG cargoes from its two floating LNG producers located in Malaysia during the first quarter.