Petronas, Partners Pen Ship-to-Ship LNG Transfer Deal

 Petronas LNG (PLL), a subsidiary of Petronas LNG Sdn. Bhd (PLSB), signed a two-year service agreement with Argo Engineering Sdn Bhd and Eastport Marine Sdn Bhd to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship-to-ship transfer services in Labuan, Malaysia.

The ship-to-ship transfer is the transfer of LNG between two vessels positioned alongside each other.

“This ship-to-ship transfer service agreement is Petronas’ first collaboration in providing flexible delivery solutions that goes beyond the conventional selling and delivering of LNG,” PLL’s Chairman, Ahmad Adly Alias said.

“LNG ship-to-ship transfer services is an emerging trend to cater to the needs of small scale LNG requirements,” he added.

As disclosed, combining Argo and Eastport’s shipping expertise with Petronas’ LNG portfolio, the partnership will enable PLL to respond to new market requirements in the changing LNG industry landscape which includes LNG shipping solutions.

Argo has vast experience in LNG shipping operations supported by a network of technical personnel in the LNG shipping industry, while Eastport has expertise in handling bunkering and ship-to-ship operations, in addition to possessing the sole license to provide LNG bunkering and ship-to-ship services at Brunei Bay, Labuan.

Separately, PLL has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB), a subsidiary of Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad (BPHB), for the provision of marine services to support PLL’s Gassing Up and Cooling Down (GUCD) services at the Bintulu Port for a period of three years.

The GUCD is a specialized service to bring the storage tanks on LNG carriers, after dry-docking, to natural environment and later cool it down to cryogenic temperature (minus 160 degrees Celsius) before loading its next cargo.

The services at the Bintulu Port will commence in 2018, making Bintulu as one of the few terminals in the world to offer this facility. The LNG for gassing up services will be supplied from the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu.

As explained by Adly, this is the first GUCD services in Malaysia at the Bintulu Port.

“This collaboration is expected to enhance Petronas’ portfolio of services in the integrated (LNG) value chain,” he added.

For the nine-month period ended 30 September 2017, Petronas Group recorded a 15 percent increase in revenue at RM 161.8 billion (USD 39.3 billion), mainly due to the impact of higher average realized prices and the impact of foreign exchange rate.

Cumulative profit after tax was RM 27.3 billion compared to RM 12.5 billion in the same period last year, primarily due to lower net impairment on assets and well costs.