TOTAL Bringing Up GLNG Project

Total entry via acquisition in the GLNG project has expedited the project to progress further. Total had previously announced the acquisition of 15% and 5% stakes in GLNG from Santos and PETRONAS respectively. Under the new arrangement, Total will also take up the volume of 1.5 million tonnes per annum from the project for 20 years.

Qatar to Supply LNG to Bangladesh

Bangladesh is reportedly to sign a deal with Qatar for import liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship. The arrangement of the deal will see Qatar supply LNG upon a sign of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by both countries expected by this month.

Petronas Sold 5% Stake in GLNG Australia to Total

PETRONAS has agreed to sell a five per cent stake in the Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) project in Australia to Total, the world's fourth largest listed natural gas producer. Total will be acquiring a total of 20% stake in the project after Santos, Australia's third-largest oil and gas producer, which is also the current partner in the project willing to sell 15 per cent of its stake in the GLNG project to Total for A$650 million.

Upon completion of the transactions, Santos will retain a 45 per cent ownership, Petronas 35 per cent and Total 20 per cent. The main agenda behind the new partnership is to harness the experience of each into the project with Santos for its expertise in gas production in Australia, and with Petronas for its experience in marketing LNG in Asia.

Malaysia Petrochemical Plant and Outlook to Change

With the upcoming release of IPO from Malaysia's biggest petrochemical player in the country, Petronas, the horizon of Malaysian's petrochemical industry is set to change.

Currently, petchem industries in Malaysia has its joint ventures with multinational companies, normally the technology providers such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Kaneka, BASF, Dow Chemicals, ConocoPhilips and others.

The petchem scenario is considered medium matured with investments of RM28 billion in the sector producing 39 types of petrochemical products such as olefins, polyolefins, aromatics, ethylene oxides, glycols, oxo-alcohols, exthoxylates, acrylic acids, pthalic anhydride, acetic acid, styrene monomer, polystyrene ethylbenzene, vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride. World scale petrochemical plants producing LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, EPS, GPPS, HIPS, PVC, ABS, SAN and PET resins have spurred the plastic industry in the country.

There are three petrochemical zones in Malaysia which are Kerteh, Gebeng and Tanjung Langsat.
With Petronas consolidating most of its petrochemical plants in Kerteh, and some in Gebeng and other areas, it is expected that the level of playing field will be raised with increase in efficiencies and cost cutting measures. This will in turn, give better profits to its shareholders which will be opened to public soon.

Malaysia’s petrochemical sector has also contributed to the development of local downstream plastic processing activities.

China Doubles Renewable Energy Subsidies

World's biggest energy consumer, China is doubling its subsidies for renewable energy in order to increase the burden on electricity users to reduce air pollution using conventional energy source. Renewable energies from generators harnessing the wind, sun and biomass are paid subsidies in order to increase the development of new energy sources and combating the country's worsen air pollution.

Southeast Asia Biggest IPO by PETRONAS

Industrial sources are quoting that PETRONAS under its Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd may offer Southeast Asia's biggest IPO offering as much as $3.53 billion in a few coming months. The IPO will include 22 companies under the Chemical Group with annual capacity of 11 million metric tonnes.

Oman Oil Company Reviving Indian's Fertilizer

Oman Oil Company is reviving Indian's Fertilizer Firms at cost of around $3bn (€2.3bn) to be given to Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) and Hindustan Fertilizer Corp's (HFCL). These two units of fertilizer plants can produce a combined of 2.3 million tonnes per year of urea.

Japan Impose Sanction on Iran

Japan has followed it's counterpart United Stats in imposing additional sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme despite Tokyo's reliance on oil imports from the country. This will heavily put a restraint in terms of financial activities with restrictions in banking activities with designated Iranian banks. The sanction also includes a halt in new energy-related investment.

BP Quiting Malaysian Investment

BP is expecting to sell off its Malaysian C2 & Polyethylene plants which is currently a joint venture with Malaysian Petronas for $363 million. The company produces 440,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and 318,000 tonne/year PE plant at the same site.