KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Petronas is now offering commercial Gassing Up and Cooling Down (GUCD) services at the Liquefied Natural Gas Regasification Terminal Pengerang (RGTP), through a collaboration between its subsidiary Petronas LNG Ltd (PLL) and Pengerang LNG (Two) Sdn Bhd (PLNG2). 

The GUCD is a specialised service to displace the inert gas from a LNG vessel's storage tanks, after dry-docking, bringing it to a natural environment and cooling it down to cryogenic temperature (minus 160 degrees Celcius), before loading its next cargo.  

In a statement today, it said a Petronas vessel, Puteri Zamrud Satu, recently completed a GUCD operation after arriving from the Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) dry dock in Pasir Gudang, Johor. "This GUCD operation signifies the first of many potential utilisation of GUCD services at the RGTP by other LNG vessel operators and owners, due to its strategic location along the Straits of Johor."   

PLL chief executive officer Ezhar Yazid Jaafar said: “The GUCD services at RGTP solidifies Petronas’ position as a progressive LNG solutions partner, offering flexible and diversified solutions to cater to the needs of our growing customers’ requirements.” 

PLL also signed a Marine Services Agreement with Johor Port Bhd for the provision of marine services, which includes offering attractive tariffs to LNG vessels utilising GUCD services from PLL at RGTP.  

Petronas said the collaborative effort with Johor Port and Johor Port Authority will encourage more vessel operators and owners to utilise the services at RGTP, due to its close proximity to shipyards in Malaysia and Singapore.    

The terminal is owned by PLNG2, which is a joint venture among Petronas Gas Bhd, Dialog LNG Sdn Bhd and Permodalan Darul Ta’zim Sdn Bhd.