This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 5, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Petra Energy Bhd’s unit has bagged a hook-up, commissioning and topside major maintenance services contract from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd in Sabah and Sarawak.

In a bourse filing, the group said its wholly-owned Petra Resources Sdn Bhd had received the letter of award for the job from the exploration unit of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on Aug 19. The contract is for 15 months from Aug 16 this year to Nov 15 next year.

“The contract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets per share of the PEB group for the duration of the contract,” the group said, but did not disclose the contract value.

Separately, Petra Energy said it is not aware of any extension of a recently completed hook-up, commissioning and topside major maintenance services contract with Petronas. Petra Resources, the group said, had already been granted a one-year extension from May 21, 2018 to May 20, 2019.

“Petra Energy Bhd wishes to clarify regarding the extension for the five-year contract for the provision of hook-up, commissioning and topside major maintenance services awarded to Petra Resources Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of PEB, from May 21, 2013 to May 20, 2018.

“Pursuant to an option provided in the contract, Petra Resources agreed to extend the contract duration for a further one year from May 21, 2018 to May 20, 2019. At this point in time, the company is not aware of any further extension,” the group said.

The clarification was in response to a report by The Edge Malaysia weekly for the week of Aug 12-18 that Petronas had aborted awarding a multibillion ringgit integrated hook-up and commissioning (IHUC) contract for a second time after calling for a tender. The first time it was scrapped was in the middle of last year.

Quoting industry sources, the weekly wrote that the incumbents undertaking the contract, including Petra Energy, could have been given an extension of up to a year on their existing contracts, as a result of the cancellation.

It also reported that while the actual size of the said aborted IHUC award was uncertain, the five-year Pan Malaysia hook-up and commissioning and topside major maintenance services contract that Petronas gave out via Petronas Carigali was valued at about RM10 billion.

Petra Energy closed five sen or 6.49% higher at 82 sen yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM263.84 million.