KUCHING, May 13 — Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) will be taking over the buying and selling of natural gas produced in the state from Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Datuk Seri Julaihi Narawi said today.
The Sarawak minister of utilities and telecommunication told the state legislative assembly that the transition will take six months, starting from July 1 and ending on January 1, 2025.
“Previously, Petronas has purchased natural gas from all upstream gas producers through Upstream Gas Supply Agreements and sold the gas through contractual agreements to users in Sarawak such as LNG plants in Bintulu and Sarawak Energy for energy generation,” he said when winding up the debate in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly.
He said Petronas has carried out natural gas buying and selling activities through agreements with upstream gas producers and downstream gas buyers all this while.
“This activity is not in line with the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016 which has been in force since 2018 because Petronas has never applied for any licence to buy and sell natural gas in Sarawak,” he said.
He added that the state government decided that there was a need for Sarawak to have its own gas aggregator.
“For this reason, Petros, a Sarawak-owned company in the oil and gas industry, has been appointed to carry out the responsibility.
“With the appointment of Petros as the sole gas aggregator, Petronas must stop any buying and selling of natural gas activities in Sarawak and hand over their natural gas distribution network and system to Petros,” he said.
Julaihi said with the appointment of Petros as the sole gas aggregator, Petronas will have to stop its buying and selling of natural gas activities in Sarawak and surrender its natural gas distribution system and network to Petros.
He said this means that Petros will take over the role from Petronas, not only as a buyer and seller of natural gas, but also to undertake all activities related to the acquisition, supply and distribution of natural gas produced in Sarawak.
Julaihi said in accordance with the passing of the Distribution of Gas (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 in the legislative assembly in appointment of gas aggregator effective February this year, Petros will be responsible for all activities related to the acquisition, supply, distribution and sale of natural gas in the state.
“Petros will also be responsible for the monitoring of development, operation and maintenance of the distribution of the natural gas system in Sarawak,” he said.
