Page 5 - AsianOil Week 22 2021

AsianOil SOUTHEAST ASIA AsianOil

(PSC) for the Corridor block is set to expire on eventually be expected to offer a combined 10%
December 20, 2023, after which a new contract of stake to a municipally owned company.
under the gross-split scheme will take effect. ConocoPhillips is the latest in a line of inter-
Under the new contract, which was awarded in national oil companies (IOC) that have moved to
July 2019, ConocoPhillips will own 46% of the divest their interests in the country. Royal Dutch
field, while Repsol will hold 24% and Pertamina Shell began looking for buyers for its 35% stake
will own 30%. in the Masela block last year, while Chevron also
The US super-major was slated to continue flagged up last year that it wanted to exit the sec-
operating the block until 2026, at which point it ond phase of the Indonesia Deepwater Devel-
was anticipated to begin transferring operational opment (IDD) Project. While SKK Migas has
control to Pertamina. repeatedly said over much of the past year that
Former Indonesian Energy Minister Ignasius Italian major Eni is expected to take over IDD, a
Jonan said at the time that the contractors would final deal is still to be struck.™

Petronas’ profit more than doubles in Q1

PERFORMANCE STATE-OWNED Malaysian major Petronas
has recorded a more than 100% year-on-year
increase in its first-quarter profit, attributing the
result to both a recovery in oil and gas prices as
well as its own cost-cutting efforts.
The company said on May 31 that its profit
after tax amounted to MYR9.3bn ($2.25bn)
in the January-March period, compared with
MYR4.5bn (1.09bn) in the same period of 2020.
It also represented a return to the black after Pet-
ronas posted a MYR1.1bn ($266.5mn) loss in the
final quarter of 2020.
The improved bottom line came despite Pet- The company said higher gas volumes from
ronas reporting that its revenue slid 12% y/y to domestic and overseas projects had not been
MYR52.5bn ($12.72bn) in the first three months able to offset fully liquids production declines at
of this year, which was driven by lower sales vol- fields in Malaysia and in Iraq.
ume of oil products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) Petronas brought four fields in Malaysia on
and natural gas, as well as the ringgit’s apprecia- stream, reached final investment decisions (FIDs)
tion against the US dollar. on another three – two at home and one in Indone-
The slide in revenue could not, however, sia – and made two offshore discoveries in Malaysia
fully offset the cost-cutting measures Petronas and another in Indonesia’s offshore.
had put in place during the course of last year. The state major’s downstream division
The company said its first-quarter costs shrank returned to the black in the quarter, posting a
by 20% y/y to MYR44.9bn ($10.88bn), help- MYR200mn ($46.5mn) profit after recording a
ing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation MYR1.2bn ($290.8mn) loss a year earlier. This
and amortisation (EBITDA) to gain 13% y/y to was despite the fact that its oil product sales con-
MYR22.9bn ($5.54bn). tracted 19% y/y to 59.4mn barrels in the quarter.
Petronas president and CEO Tengku Petronas said profits from its gas and new
Muhammad Taufik said: “The deliberate steps energy division declined by 28% to MYR2.1bn
taken throughout 2020 have provided the group ($508.9mn) amid an 11% contraction in LNG
with a stronger foundation to better withstand sales to 8.93mn tonnes and a 19% fall in gas sales.
volatile market conditions while we contend While Petronas expects oil and gas demand
with the global energy transition.” to rise on the back of the global coronavirus
While Petronas’ first-quarter oil and gas pro- (COVID-19) vaccination campaign, it warned
duction decreased marginally, the company said that recovery prospects “remain uncertain due
its profit from the segment climbed more than to risk of COVID-19 resurgence”.
100% to MYR6.9bn ($1.67bn) from MYR1.9bn Taufik: “Even as Petronas navigates the signif-
($460.4mn) from the same period of 2020. icant challenges and uncertainties posed by the
Production, meanwhile, contracted by 3% to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it will continue
2.39mn barrels of oil equivalent per day from to intensify efforts to achieve its Net Zero Car-
2.46 boepd a year earlier. bon Emissions by 2050 aspiration.”™

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