JX Nippon Oil & Energy Picks Up 10% Stake in Petronas' LNG Subsidiary

JX Nippon Oil & Energy (JX NOE) has picked up 10 percent stake in Petronas’ LNG subsidiary.

The Japanese firm has bought the stake in Petronas LNG 9 Sdn Bhd (PL9SB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petronas. PL9SB owns the ninth LNG liquefaction train within the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. The train, with a production capacity of 3.6 million tonne per annum, is expected to commence commercial operations in Q1 of 2017. With the addition of the liquefaction plant owned by PL9SB, the Petronas LNG Complex will now have the capacity to produce approximately 30 million tonne per annum.

JX NOE’s entry into PL9SB marks its second participation in Petronas’ LNG projects, in addition to its existing 10 per cent equity interest in MLNG Tiga Sdn Bhd.

Energy landscape in Southeast Asia is undergoing a major shift as domestic demand continues to race ahead. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), as domestic natural gas demand outpaces indigenous production, intra-regional and intra-country trade increases, Southeast Asia will turn into a net gas importer of around 10 bcm by 2040, compared with net exports of 54 bcm in 2013.

IEA says electricity demand would almost triple by 2040, an increase greater than the current power output of Japan. Although coal still remains the dominant fuel, greater focus on pollution reduction will lead to demand growth in gas fired power plants.