Petronas Grapples With Operational Issues at Malaysian LNG Export Plant

Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas has asked buyers to defer some scheduled LNG cargo loadings from one of its export plants due to operational issues, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing industry sources.

A production train at the MLNG Tiga production facility at the giant Bintulu LNG Complex is experiencing operational issues and Petronas has requested the deferments of some cargo loadings for October, according to Reuters’s sources.

Bintulu LNG is operating at reduced capacity, per a report by ANZ Research from Wednesday.

The Bintulu LNG Complex is one of the world’s largest LNG facilities with nine trains with a combined production capacity of nearly 30 million tons per annum (mtpa).

The MLNG Tiga production facility at the complex has two trains with a total production capacity of over 7 mtpa.

Earlier this year, Bintulu LNG suffered operational issues after a power loss disrupted normal operations for more than a week in May.

On May 19, more than a week after a power loss incident on May 11, Malaysia LNG Group of Companies (MLNG), a subsidiary of Petronas, successfully resumed full operations at the complex, the Malaysian company said at the time.

This time, the deferment of some supply from Petronas’s flagship LNG export plant could put upward pressure on Asian LNG prices.

Spot prices for North Asia hit a 7-month high last week amid hot summer weather and the tensions in the Middle East.

Europe has recently seen lower LNG inflows as the Asian prices are higher, drawing more buying.

Meanwhile, “demand for LNG in Asia remains a supportive factor for global gas prices,” Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy at ING wrote in a Thursday note.

Asian imports rose by 10.3% year-over-year in the first seven months of 2024, per LSEG data. China and India have been the key drivers of demand, making up 64% of the growth in Asian LNG demand so far this year, ING’s Patterson added.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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