Petronas eyes joint push for regional energy transition

Malaysia's state-owned Petronas is calling for stronger regional collaboration in energy transition efforts.

The call comes just weeks after it announced an aspiration to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The oil and gas producer wants the governments of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and energy market participants, as well as the public and private sectors, to collaborate and leverage one another's strengths to achieve a sustainable, low-carbon future.

To date, Asean member countries have collectively endorsed ambitious targets that seek to improve the rate of energy efficiency, limit emissions from fossil fuels and expand the role of renewables especially in the power sector. These are positive signs that the region is moving in the right direction, it said.

But "there remain further opportunities to strengthen regional cooperation and create the right eco-system to promote a wider usage of energy from clean and sustainable sources, particularly solar and wind", Petronas' chief executive Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said at the virtual Asean Energy Business Forum 2020.

He reiterated that natural gas remains core to the firm as a cleaner source of fossil fuel, and sees opportunities in new energy sources, apart from solar and wind, that will complement Petronas' global LNG portfolio. "This includes hydrogen, where the company is now working towards sustainable coalitions with technology providers to develop zero-emission hydrogen fuel from bio-based products and carbon engineering," he said.

Petronas is a major LNG exporter and produces around 1.8mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d). It operates about 400,000 b/d of refining capacity.

The call to action also comes after a group of 15 Asia-Pacific nations signed the landmark Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership free-trade agreement on 15 November, hastening the integration of the world's fastest-growing economic region.

By Subethira Ahrumugam