Exports

Malaysia was the third largest exporter of LNG in the world after Qatar and Indonesia in 2010, exporting over 1 Tcf of LNG, which accounted for 10 percent of total world LNG exports. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China have supply contracts with Malaysia, and are the largest purchasers. LNG is primarily transported by Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC), which owns and operates 27 LNG tankers, the single largest LNG tanker fleet in the world by volume of LNG carried. MISC is 62-percent owned by Petronas.

The Bintulu LNG complex on Sarawak is the main hub for Malaysia's natural gas industry. Petronas owns majority interests in Bintulu's three LNG processing plants, which are supplied by offshore natural gas fields. The Bintulu facility is the largest LNG complex in the world, with 8 production trains and a total liquefaction capacity of 1.7 Tcf per year following the debottlenecking completed at end-2010, which raised overall capacity by 0.6 Tcf per year. Japanese financing has been critical to the development of Malaysia's LNG facilities. Also in Bintulu is Shell’s gas to liquids (GTL) project which has a production capacity of 14,700 bbl/d.

Construction began on Petronas’ Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis, Sabah in 2011 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. It will have a handling capacity of 1.3 Bcf/d of natural gas per day from the Gumusat-Kakap, Malikai, and Knabalu offshore fields. It will supply gas for domestic use in Sabah, largely for a new electric power plant slated for completion in 2014. A reported 500,000 cubic feet per day will be piped to the Bintulu complex to be exported as LNG. The Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline project is part of this development.