KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said today the Malaysian national oil company, through its subsidiary Petronas LNG Ltd (PLL), recently completed the group's maiden delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Yangon, Myanmar, with two LNG cargoes delivered in May and June 2020. The move is intended to grow Petronas' foothold in Myanmar’s fast-growing gas industry.

In a statement today, Petronas said the delivery of the two LNG cargoes was part of a master sale and purchase agreement between PLL and CNTIC VPower. Petronas said the agreement was signed in early 2020.

"As part of the agreement, the LNG cargoes were sold on a free-on-board basis, amounting to a total LNG volume of 190,000 cubic metres. Both LNG cargoes were loaded at the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, and were delivered on May 7, 2020, on board CNTIC VPower Global, and on June 3, 2020 on board the Golar Kelvin.

"Through Petronas’ integrated value chain solutions, Petronas facilitated the delivery of the cargoes by granting conditional acceptance to the CNTIC VPower Global vessel in allowing for the very first multilobe tank comprising two cylindrical tank sections, or better known as a Bilobe type LNG vessel, to dock at the Bintulu terminal where cooling-down services were also provided. This was achieved by Petronas’ focus on customer-centricity, which enables the company (Petronas) to adapt to unique requirements and fulfil customers’ cleaner energy demands. 

"In addition to the first two LNG cargoes, Petronas is also working with CNTIC VPower for further deliveries that will strengthen the relationship between the two companies, which will facilitate the growth of their foothold in Myanmar’s fast-growing gas industry,” Petronas said.

PLL chief executive officer (CEO) Abdul Aziz Othman said in the statement that the two LNG cargoes that were successfully delivered to CNTIC VPower marks a new era in the growth of LNG demand in the Southeast Asian region.

"With Myanmar as the latest nation to adopt LNG as a form of cleaner energy, Petronas looks forward to being a long-term partner and supplier, leveraging on our world-class reliability as well as innovative and customer-centric solutions,” Abdul Aziz said.

According to Petronas’ statement,  CNTIC VPower is a joint-venture company between China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC) and VPower Group International Holdings Ltd. 

Petronas said CNTIC is a large-scale state-owned enterprise in China with rich experience in domestic and overseas project contracting and project management, trade, tendering, commercial and technical consulting, investment and financing. 

VPower Group is an integrated expert in distributed power generation, currently one of the largest owners and operators of distributed power stations in Asia, according to Petronas.

"In 2019, the two companies as a consortium won three LNG-to-power projects, Yangon’s Thanlyin and Thaketa and Rakhine’s Kyaukphyu, totalling 900 megawatts through a tender issued by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy’s Electric Power Generation Enterprise in Myanmar. 

"These projects are expected to start in 2020 to meet Myanmar’s growth in electricity demand where it is increasing annually by 15% to 17%,” Petronas said.