KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will not be making any rushed decisions on its ongoing collaboration with Russian oil firm Gazprom despite the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict that has led to a spate of sanctions being imposed on Russia and the exit of many major companies from the country in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“We have a collaboration with Gazprom in Iraq,” Petronas president and group chief executive officer Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz told a media briefing on Tuesday (March 1), referring to Petronas’ non-operating stake in Iraq’s Badra oilfield, which produced 3.8 million tonnes per annum of oil in 2017.
“In so far as to the position to be taken, we are taking guidance on the sanctions that are going to apply. We are not going to be rushing into any decisions here.
“We have taken into account the position and geopolitics at the country level, and that is something that we stand guided on if the policymakers take a stance,” Tengku Muhammad Taufik said.
He added that Petronas also had a joint venture (JV) with Russia’s oil and gas company LUKOIL, but the group recently disposed of its stake in the Shah Deniz project in Azerbaijan to the JV partner for US$2.25 billion (about RM9.43 billion). Petronas in 2014 bought the 15.5% stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas project from Norway-based Statoil, now known as Equinor ASA, for the same amount.
“We cannot deny the fact that Russia is a key oil and gas producer. Most of Europe relies on Russian gas for its power.
"While the situation [in Ukraine] is unfortunate, I can only say that as responsible, reliable and committed energy producers, we will still serve our consumers and partners everywhere,” he said.
Shell recently announced that it will exit all its Russian operations, including a major liquefied natural gas plant, following Moscow's attack on Ukraine.
BP plc, another major international oil and gas player, is also abandoning its stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft. Equinor — majority-owned by the Norwegian state — also plans to exit Russia.
Petronas on Tuesday reported that its full-year net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) came in at a three-year high of RM48.6 billion, against a net loss of RM21.03 billion it posted for FY20, thanks to the favourable price impact of major products, in line with higher average realised energy prices.
Revenue for the period rose 38.73% to RM247.96 billion from RM178.74 billion for the previous year.