Gas Malaysia keen to tap overseas opportunities

“We are always looking at opportunities. The possibilities are definitely there. We can’t comment on anything right now, but rest assured it’s in our plans to capitalise on these opportunities,” he says.

The shale gas boom in the United States has sparked a race in constructing plants that make chemicals, plastics, fertiliser, steel and other products. And big oil and gas players are pumping in huge investments to set up natural gas pipelines to feed the needs of these new facilities. Just this past Thursday, Detroit-based DTE Energy, a utility and diversified energy company, and two major pipeline corporations, Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc and Houston-based Spectra Energy announced plans to invest between US$1.2 billion to $1.5 billion to establish the 400km natural gas pipeline that starts from Northeast Ohio to Ontario, Canada.

Not only is this happening in the West, many other countries are exploring avenues to latch on to the consumption of natural gas, as it is the cleanest and most efficient fuel among major fossil fuels. This works well for Gas Malaysia, which has the resumé and track record to go after opportunities in the region or elsewhere. It boasts a 99.9 per cent availability rate for the supply of natural gas to its industry clients locally.

To drive more customer demand for natural gas, the company is also studying other ways to serve potential customers that are not connected via its network.

“We have not covered the full industrial areas of Malaysia yet. Places like Ipoh, Mentakab, Bentong, Pekan and Batu Pahat are still quite far away from our network. We are looking at various options to determine the best and most economical way to supply the natural gas to these industrial customers,” says Muhammad Noor.

He adds that there are a few ways to deliver gas, and Gas Malaysia is looking at utilising tankers to develop a virtual pipeline.

“We can emulate the concept undertaken by Petronas to ship natural gas from one mother station to deliver to other smaller stations. We are looking at the feasibility of the idea, and we are looking at the technology, logistics and customer factor and make some decision by year end,” he explains.

He says the company’s objective is to supply as many industrial customers in Malaysia as possible.

Besides that, the company still sees demand growth for natural gas consumption in the country as it is widely used to fire up furnaces, boilers, power generation, and to produce ammonia/fertiliser along with as a feedstock to produce hydrogen.

Consumption of natural gas in Malaysia has grown from about 315bcf (1 bcf equals 1 trillion British thermal units) in 1990 to an estimated 1,260bcf in 2010, the ability to satisfy this demand has been constrained since 2007 due to the shortage of supply. This is expected to grow even more with supply coming on stream. “I do not see 

any more constraint in supply as far as supply for industrial consumers are concerned. The completion of the liquefied natural gas regasification facility in Malacca and another gas receiving terminal in Pengerang, Johor, bodes well for us,” he says.

He adds that the growth in volume should contribute to the company and revenue should exceed the 2-billion ringgit mark the company hit in the previous financial year.

Currently, the company sources its natural gas supply from Petronas. Gas Malaysia is on its way to supplying 492 million standard cu per day (mmscfd) on a step-up basis by 2015, a 29 per cent increase from its previous level of 382 mmscfd, after signing a new supply agreement with Petronas. But, it is still hungry for more growth, and is seeking for more volume beyond 2015.