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LNG deals boost Mitsubishi ties with Petronas
Japanese firm acquires stakes in Malaysia LNG floating platforms
Michael Marray 9 Oct 2024

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corporation and Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas have signed new investment agreements on Malaysia LNG’s Dua and Tiga floating LNG platforms.

Under the agreement, Mitsubishi will extend its 10% equity shareholding in MLNG Dua, valid for another ten years. It will also acquire a 10% equity shareholding in MLNG Tiga, also valid for ten years.

The pacts signify the Japanese company’s continued participation in the two ventures with associated marketing activities and deliveries of LNG from Bintulu – a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia – to Japan.  As such, they further solidify Mitsubishi‘s relationship with Petronas, delivering liquefied natural gas to the international market, primarily for LNG customers in Japan. 

Mitsubishi says both parties are committed to ensuring energy security amid market volatility driven by global disruptions such as geopolitical tensions, rising regional demands, and changing consumption patterns.  

The agreements were signed by Petronas president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik and Mitsubishi president and CEO Katsuya Nakanishi. 

“Our relationship with Mitsubishi Corporation began with our first joint venture agreement in 1978 and we are therefore excited about strengthening our ties further, especially in the era of energy transition where LNG is the natural fuel alternative," says Tengku Muhammad Taufik.

The Petronas LNG complex has been supplying to long-term Japanese contract buyers since 1983.

The complex comprises four joint ventures – MLNG, MLNG Dua, MLNG Tiga and Petronas LNG – with a production capacity of 29.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), making it one of the world’s largest LNG producers in a single location.

A major LNG supplier, the complex has been providing lower-carbon energy solutions to a diverse range of public and private sector customers in Japan.  

Besides its main business of natural gas in Malaysia, Mitsubishi has also participated in ten gas upstream blocks in Sarawak and expanded its areas of investment in Malaysia to automobile, food, petrochemicals, metal and steel. It invested approximately 5 billion ringgit (US$1.17 billion) last year.