KUALA LUMPUR — Petronas is well placed to tap growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand in Asia, backed by a diversified supply portfolio and rising production capacity in Malaysia, including a new facility in Sabah expected to be commissioned next year.
Petronas LNG Marketing and Trading vice-president Ezran Mahadzir said the company’s integrated portfolio, comprising established operations in Bintulu, Sarawak, supplies from Canada and the upcoming Sabah facility, would provide the flexibility and reliability sought by Asian buyers.
“Even the portfolio that we have in Bintulu, in Canada and around the middle of next year, we are also commissioning our new plant in Sabah.
“That’s a further two million tonnes that’s going to be coming into our portfolio,” he said during an interview at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok.
Ezran said the breadth of Petronas’ portfolio would allow it to cater to Asian markets with differing levels of maturity and energy requirements.
He said LNG demand in mature markets such as Japan and South Korea could be relatively saturated, but the fuel would remain important as those countries expand data centres and seek to reduce their reliance on coal.
“These markets are very sensitive to reliability. They require reliability, and they also require flexibility,” he said.
In Southeast Asia, LNG demand is expected to rise, although the region faces greater challenges in developing the infrastructure needed to support growth, he said.
Ezran said Petronas’ experience as an integrated energy company, including in developing and operating LNG liquefaction and regasification facilities, enabled it to support partners across the value chain.
“That’s where Petronas also brings in the value proposition that we can support our partners throughout the integrated chain,” he said.
On LNG prices, Ezran said longer-term movements would continue to be driven primarily by supply and demand, while geopolitical developments and uncertainty could trigger sharper short-term fluctuations.
“There are always very simple drivers. It’s economics. It’s demand and supply. Those are the fundamentals,” he said.
He cited the conflict involving Iran as an example of how geopolitical uncertainty could affect LNG prices in the short term.
However, Ezran said Petronas took a long-term approach to investment decisions and believed its diversified portfolio, geographical footprint and range of supply sources would help it navigate periods of market volatility.
“We look at things from the long run. We believe that we are able to weather the storm,” he said.
He added that Petronas also had diversified exposure to different LNG and gas pricing benchmarks, allowing it to provide buyers with greater flexibility in managing their price exposure.
“Not only are we flexible from a molecule perspective, but we are also flexible in terms of the commercial terms as well,” he said.
Ezran said Petronas’ scenario planning continued to indicate that gas and energy would remain part of the global energy mix over the longer term.
“We believe in the long run, the fundamentals are strong enough for us to further invest in capacity, and we are well-served to meet those demands,” he said.
He acknowledged, however, that LNG markets could remain volatile in the near term amid changing market conditions and geopolitical uncertainty. — September 18, 2026