KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) is allocating RM1.2 billion for capital expenditure (capex) for maintenance, statutory requirements inspections and digitalisation efforts this year.
Managing director/chief executive officer Kamal Bahrin Ahmad said the high capex is necessitated by the statutory inspection of plants which take place once every three to five years.
“Normally, it takes about RM300 million to RM400 million to sustain the reliability and productivity of the plants,” he told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting here today.
He said three plants are scheduled to undergo statutory inspections while two others need minor maintenance.
He added that the capex would be mainly internally funded.
Meanwhile, PetGas chairman Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib said the company is taking advantage of the regulation imposed by the International Maritime Organisation which puts a limit on sulfur content in shipping fuel to promote the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in ships.
“We have a bunkering station in Pengerang and we hope this will generate future growth for Petronas Gas,” he said.
On the Third Party Access (TPA) implementation, Mohd Anuar said no other companies are utilising the TPA to import LNG as local gas prices have yet to reach market parity.
“The gas price is still not at market parity yet and because of that, you are not seeing anybody else importing,” he said, adding that companies may begin to use the TPA to import LNG in the future as the gap between local gas price and market price is narrowing. — Bernama
