Morshidi (second from left) exchanges the signed document with Anuar. Najib is in the centre and Adenan second from right.
KUCHING: The state government yesterday signed a Principle Agreement with Petronas for the supply of 450 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of natural gas for the power and non-power sectors in the state.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a joint study for the Sarawak Petrochemical Master Plan was also inked.
Also signed at the function was a new 20-year Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) between Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) and Petronas for the supply of 100 mmscfd of natural gas to its plant in Bintulu.
At the function, Petronas also received approval from the state government to operate electricity generating installation at its LNG Train 9 project in Bintulu, thus paving the way for the operational start up of the LNG plant.
Present to witness the signing ceremonies were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan and Petronas president and Group CEO Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.
The Principle Agreement was signed by State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani and Petronas executive vice president and chief executive officer (CEO) (Upstream) Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib.
Under this agreement, Petronas will supply 250 mmscfd of natural gas to SEB for its existing power plant at Tanjung Kidurong in Bintulu and a new 1200MW power plant at Samalaju Industrial Park. The remaining 200 mmscfd of natural gas will be supplied to Sarawak as feedstock for the petrochemical industry in the state.
The MOU was signed by Morshidi on behalf of the state government while Petronas was represented by its senior vice president (Corporate Strategy) Adif Zulkifli.
Under the MOU, both parties will undertake a technical, commercial and economic feasibility study for the joint petrochemical development in the state.
The GSA was signed by Anuar on behalf of Petronas and SEB’s CEO Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit and board member Datuk Fong Joo Chung.
The new GSA agreement is part of the overall commitment from Petronas to supply SEB with 250 mmscfd of natural gas for Sarawak’s power sector.
The remaining 150 mmscfd will be supplied to SEB’s new combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT) power plan to be constructed in Samalaju, and will be subjected to a separate GSA.
In a media release, Torstein explained that SEB was undertaking a two-phase plan to raise output and strenghten its gas generation mix.
“Phase one will be the development of the 400MW CCGT block at Tanjung Kidurong that we will build within the existing Tanjung Kidurong Power Station, and phase two will see us develop a new 1200MW gas power plant at Samalaju Industrial Park,” he said.
Currently, about 15 per cent of Sarawak’s power generation is from Bintulu and Miri gas powered plants, 10 per cent from coal resources, while 75 per cent is derived from hydropower plants in Murum, Bakun and Batang Air hydro electric power plant.
Meanwhile, the licence for Petronas was issued by the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) of the Ministry of Public Utilities. It would enable Petronas to start up its latest onshore LNG plant in the second quarter of this year.