Petronas has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with JX Nippon Oil & Energy (JX NOE) to sell 10 percent of equity stake in Petronas LNG 9 Sdn Bhd (PL9SB), its wholly-owned subsidiary.

In a statement today, Petronas said JX NOE’s entry into PL9SB marked its second participation in Petronas’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, in addition to its existing 10 percent equity interest in MLNG Tiga Sdn Bhd.

“PL9SB owns the ninth LNG liquefaction train within the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak with a production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum and is expected to commence commercial operations in first quarter of 2017,” it said.

Petronas president and group chief executive officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the sale demonstrated Petronas’ ongoing commitment to grow its LNG business with the support of trusted partners.

“JX NOE has played a key role in the development of MLNG Tiga and we look forward to their similar contribution to PL9SB,” he added.

Petronas said with the addition of the state-of-the-art liquefaction plant owned by PL9SB, the Petronas LNG Complex would now have the capacity to produce approximately 30 million tonnes of LNG per annum.

It said this would further cement Petronas’ position as a leading and reliable LNG supplier.

- Bernama