Malaysia LNG, MLNG Dua in process of resuming operations: Petronas

Malaysia LNG and Malaysia LNG Dua, subsidiaries of state-owned Petronas, are in the process of resuming operations after a recent production interruption, a Petronas spokesperson told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, on April 18.

"Rectification and startup activities to resume operations at the affected modules are currently in progress," following an April 8 production interruption, the spokesperson said.

"MLNG is focusing all efforts to minimize any impact and fulfill its contractual commitments," the spokesperson said, adding that the facility was operating "optimally" prior to the production interruption.

Petronas' comments came as one of two LNG carriers berthed at Malaysia's Bintulu LNG terminal departed for China on April 18, following reported outages at the terminal earlier in the week, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea(opens in a new tab).

The 10,001-deadweight-tonnage Lucia Ambition, chartered by Malaysia LNG, departed with an LNG cargo bound for Macun, southern China, and is estimated to arrive on April 23, according to CAS.

Deadweight tonnage is a measurement of the total contents of a ship, including cargo, fuel, crew, passengers, food and ballast water.

The Lucia Ambition, which had been offshore Bintulu LNG terminal on April 17, berthed at No. 2 berth and departed after loading its cargo on April 18, according to CAS.

The other LNG carrier -- the 45,419-dwt Lagenda Serenity, chartered by Petronas -- was at No. 3 berth at the Bintulu terminal as of 1015 GMT on April 18, after having been offshore the terminal on April 17, according to CAS.

While the Lagenda Serenity's next destination is not immediately available, the ship has called between Bintulu and China's Majishan/Shulanghu, Yangshan and Shanghai ports so far in 2025, according to Platts cFlow ship and commodity tracking software.

The movements of the two LNG ships came to light after Platts reported April 16 that several LNG trains at Malaysia LNG's Satu and Dua projects were experiencing outages due to technical glitches, resulting in cargo loading delays or cancellations.

The Bintulu LNG complex has three trains each at MLNG Satu and MLNG Dua, two trains at MLNG Tiga and a ninth train operated by Petronas. The entire complex has nearly 30 million mt/year of capacity, making it one of the largest LNG export facilities of its kind at a single location.

Ship movements

As of 1015 GMT on April 18, five LNG carriers -- the Seri Balhaf, the Seri Amanah, the Dapeng Princess, the Seri Camellia and the Puteri Sejinjang -- were anchored offshore Bintulu with Bintulu listed as their destination, according to CAS.

Petronas currently holds three LNG contracts with Chinese buyers. These include a 25-year contract to supply 3 million mt/year of LNG to Shanghai LNG Company, sourced from Bintulu LNG, and two contracts of nine to 10 years with state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. and privately owned Jovo to supply 500,000 mt/year from Petronas' portfolio, information based on public data compiled by Platts showed.

PetroChina operates a small LNG terminal in Macun, Hainan province, with a designed receiving capacity of 600,000 mt/year. It also has a nine-year contract with Petronas for the supply of 500,000 mt/year of LNG, with deliveries starting in April 2023, data from Commodity Insights showed.

The Shanghai Yangshan LNG terminal, with a capacity of 3 million mt/year, is owned and operated by a joint venture, Shanghai LNG Co. State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. holds a 45% share, while Shenergy, which is affiliated with the Shanghai municipal government, owns the remaining 55%, according to public business registration information.

Additionally, Shenergy owns and operates the Shanghai Wuhaogou terminal, which has a capacity of 1.5 million mt/year in the region.