KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd will offer marine services to support Petronas' liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tank gassing up and cooling down (GUCD) operations at Sarawak's Bintulu Port for three years.

Petronas said in a statement today its subsidiary Petronas LNG Ltd recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Bintulu Port Holdings subsidiary Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd.

According to Petronas, the GUCD service aims to bring storage tanks on LNG carriers into a natural environment before the tanks are cooled to cryogenic temperature (minus 160 degrees Celsius).

"The (GUCD) services at the Bintulu Port will commence in 2018, positioning Bintulu as one of the premier LNG hubs and making it one of the few terminals in the world to offer this facility. The LNG for gassing up services will be supplied from the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu.

"In supporting the GUCD services, Bintulu Port will provide port and maritime services with attractive rates which will provide cost savings to the LNG vessel operators," Petronas said.

In a separate statement, Petronas said Petronas LNG signed a two-year service agreement with Argo Engineering Sdn Bhd and Eastport Marine Sdn Bhd to provide LNG ship-to-ship transfer services in Labuan.

"The ship-to-ship transfer is the transfer of LNG between two vessels positioned alongside each other. Ship-to-ship transfer allows flexibility of cargo delivery especially for small-scale LNG requirements," Petronas said.