Petronas International Corporation Ltd (PICL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas, has signed an agreement with MISC Bhd and Mustang Engineering Ltd of the United Kingdom to form a joint-venture company providing floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) engineering solutions and services worldwide.

The agreement firms up earlier indications by the three parties late last year to jointly offer conceptual designs, develop project execution plans and facilitate advancement of technologies associated with natural gas liquefaction in offshore environment, commonly referred to as "floating LNG" in the industry.

Under the agreement, the shareholding structure of the new entity, which will be based in Kuala Lumpur, will be as follows:

PICL 60% MISC 30% Mustang Engineering 10%

Initially the new joint-venture will focus on accomplishing a front end engineering design for a project in Malaysia. The project has already progressed to achieve first gas production from a floating LNG facility in late 2013. Prospects for projects outside Malaysia are currently being assessed.

The joint-venture company aspires to be a one-stop centre in delivering cost-effective engineering solutions to develop and monetise remote offshore gas reserves, create high-value intellectual properties and offer best practices in floating LNG production storage and offloading project management and operations.

Also a key objective of the joint venture is to facilitate capability development and nurture local experts in floating LNG technology through structured resource capability, competencies and research & development programmes.

PETRONAS is already recognised as a global integrated major in the LNG industry, the partnership with MISC and Mustang Engineering is in line with its aspiration to grow further its leadership position in the global LNG business.

Tags: Petronas International Corporation Ltd