QUESTION TIME | National oil corporation Petronas’ pullout from a massive investment raises yet again the question of whether it should be involved at all in high-risk overseas ventures when its excess funds can be used for investment and development within the country.

It was without doubt the largest single investment by a Malaysian company - about RM120 billion. But it was not in Malaysia - it was going to be in British Columbia, Canada.

Despite questions raised over the wisdom of the liquefied natural gas project costing C$36 billion, Petronas insisted for years that the project was viable and will give it and its partners - the national oil companies of Japan, Brunei, India and China - good returns in the long term.

And then, just last week, it dropped the bombshell - which caused a bigger stir in British Columbia, the largest proposed investment ever there, than in Kuala Lumpur - it was pulling out of the venture, the Pacific NorthWest LNG Project.

“The decision was made after a careful and total review of the project amid changes in market conditions,” Petronas’ executive vice-president and chief executive officer Upstream Anuar Taib said, according to a statement from Petronas. “We are disappointed that the extremely challenging environment brought about by the prolonged depressed prices and shifts in the energy industry have led us to this decision.”

In typical Petronas style, the announcement offered few details but other press reports put the size of the project at C$36 billion, which included a pipeline and terminal in addition to an LNG plant. The project received received conditional approval from the federal government in September 2016, which said an estimated 4,500 jobs would be created during the construction phase of the project, and 630 workers would be needed to operate the facility.

But strangely, Anuar added,“We, along with our North Montney Joint Venture partners, remain committed to developing our significant natural gas assets in Canada and will continue to explore all options as part of our long-term investment strategy moving forward.”

However, Anuar did not say how it would develop the LNG resources when the plant, port terminal and pipelines were all integral to the overall exploitation of the massive gas reserves under wholly-owned Progress Energy Canada Ltd...