Malaysia: Petronas pitches $1b offshore gas project stake to Shell, ExxonMobil, PTTEP, others

Malaysia: Petronas pitches $1b offshore gas project stake to Shell,
ExxonMobil, PTTEP, others

Malaysia's Petronas has pitched an estimated $1 billion stake in a prized
upstream local gas project to potential bidders including Royal Dutch Shell,
ExxonMobil Corp, Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production and Japanese
firms, sources familiar with the matter said.

If successful, the deal could mark the Malaysian company's biggest upstream
stake sale since oil prices started declining more than two years ago.
Petronas is targeting lowering operating expenses, job cuts and project
rollbacks to help it navigate through the low oil price environment.

The state-owned oil and gas company has approached about a dozen prospective
buyers including global oil majors and Asian firms focused on Southeast
Asia, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the talks are
private.

They said Petronas has begun providing financial and operational data to the
companies and expects to receive bids over the next few weeks.

Citing sources, Reuters reported in February that the Malaysian state-owned
co was considering selling a stake of as much as 49 percent in the SK316
offshore gas block in Malaysia's Sarawak state.

In a statement to Reuters, the Malaysian The state-owned oil and gas company
said that through its subsidiary, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, it is looking
for partners who can bring the technology and capabilities to explore,
develop and efficiently operate the various fields and opportunities in the
SK316 offshore gas block.

"We are confident that we will attract the right partners to maximize the
potential value of these opportunities to help meet the world's growing oil
and gas demand," Petronas said.

It was not immediately known what the individual companies' response to
Petronas' approach was.

ExxonMobil declined to comment, while Shell referred the query to Petronas.
A spokeswoman for PTTEP declined to comment on the deal but said the company
was keen to invest in Southeast Asia because it had expertise in the region
where costs and risks were low.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/petronas-pitches-1b-offshore-gas-proje
ct-stake-to-oil-firms-sources-shell-69905/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com