KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas has approved plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant offshore Malaysia and aims to bring it online in 2015, which, if it were successful, would make it the first such plant in the world.
Petronas’ main competitor in the race to bring the first floating LNG plant online is oil major Royal Dutch Shell which approved its Prelude LNG floating plant last year and has said it intends to bring the plant online by 2017.
The floating LNG plant will allow Petronas to drill and ship gas from fields that were either too small or too remote to be profitable previously, CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas said at a gas industry gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
“This is an example where advancement of technology has made it economically feasible to monetise stranded gas in small and scattered conventional fields,” Shamsul said of the project.
Petronas is facing diminishing oil and gas reserves in Malaysia and plans to spend 300 million ringgit ($93.79 million) over the next five years to step up its deep-water exploration activities as well as re-exploring marginal fields.
In 2011, Malaysia was the world’s second largest exporter of LNG, according to Petronas and the world’s 15th largest gas producer. But declining reserves in Malaysia are forcing the country to import the fuel as well.
Malaysia’s first LNG import terminal in Melaka, Malaysia, is due to start up in July 2012.
“The intent is to prepare for the impending shortfall of supply in peninsular Malaysia. We are also assessing the feasibility of constructing a second LNG re-gasification terminal,” Shamsul said.
The second terminal would be in southern Johor, and a third terminal in Lahad Datu in east Malaysia is set to be commissioned in 2015, he added.
Petronas approves floating LNG plant
Petronas approves floating LNG plant
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
