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The Limbayong project, which is located in unnamed industry sources as saying that the
Block G, contains two separate oil and gas reser- Malaysian state major intended to retender the
voirs. Royal Dutch Shell discovered the deeper contract, as it wanted to secure a lower price for
gas reservoir in 2002, with the shallower oil res- the vessel.
ervoir having been discovered in 2014 via the Petronas issued the new tender in October
Limbayong-2 appraisal well. 2020, World Energy Reports reported, noting
Connect Upstream Insight, a division of IHS that the FPSO needed to be capable of produc-
Markit, reported in July 2020 that Petronas had ing 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, 90mn
cancelled a tender for the lease and operation of cubic feet per day of gas and of storing 600,000
an FPSO at Limbayong. The news outlet cited barrels.
Eneos expands stake in Petrolimex
FINANCE & JAPANESE refining giant Eneos has expanded
INVESTMENT its holdings in state-run Vietnam National
Petroleum (Petrolimex) as it seeks to expand its
co-operation with the company.
An Eneos spokeswoman told Reuters on Feb-
ruary 25 that the Japanese company had raised
its stake in the fuel retailer from 8% to 9% in a bid
to accelerate talks between the two over potential
collaboration in the downstream, LNG termi-
nals, power generation and renewables.
This is not the first time Eneos has tried to
forge a closer relationship with Petrolimex, hav-
ing bought its original 8% stake in 2016 before
launching several studies of collaboration poten-
tial in the years that followed. For example, the
Japanese company signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Petrolimex in 2018
to carry out a feasibility study on collaborating in After expanding by 2.9% last year amid a
the Marifu refinery in Japan. global economic downturn, the World Bank has
Japan’s refiners have been seeking new growth said it expects the Vietnamese economy to grow
markets as the domestic oil product market con- by 6.7%. The Bank of America is more upbeat,
tinues to decline, owing to an ageing population predicting growth of 9.3% in 2021.
and the country’s ascent up the energy efficiency While Petrolimex’s net profit shrank by
curve. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga 73.6% year on year in 2020 to VND1.235 trillion
declared in October 2020 that the country would ($43.4mn), SSI Securities has said it expects the
cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. company’s profit to rebound in 2021 to VND5.07
Moreover, Petrolimex is looking forward to a trillion ($217mn).
stronger year in 2021, with domestic demand for The Vietnamese government is also antici-
fuel expected to pick up in line with a projected pated to sell down its stake in the company this
recovery in the wider economy. year, from 81.89% at present to 51%.
Week 08 25•February•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
