Petronas to unlock collaborative transition into energy space

LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will ensure that it is on track to unlock a more coherent, calculated and collaborative transition into the energy space, where oil and gas continue to be part of the solution.

Petronas senior vice president of project delivery and technology Datuk Bacho Pilong said a strong push for countries and corporations to work together on an effective collaborative model must be continued and strengthened to attract investments that make the scaling-up and deployment of decarbonisation solutions a viable effort.

“For the industry players and policymakers, a concerted effort to widely adopt these solutions will create a positive technical and economic ecosystem for implementation across industries,” he said in his keynote address at the Oil and Gas Asia 2023 (September 13 to 15) conference and exhibition here today.

In this space, Bacho said the role of financing, liquidity, and green financing is equally important to build capability towards the energy transition in the region.

“Flexible grants to oil and gas players, for example, would certainly serve as an incentive to expand and encourage technology development that addresses current demands, and at the same time, create more opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to pioneer innovative business models or expand internationally,” he added.

Bacho said the impact of proactive support from all financial institutions in securing green financing schemes – particularly to smaller but equally important players supporting the energy transition – should not be underestimated.

The Petronas Activity Outlook for 2022-2025 highlights that its outlook remains positive for drilling rigs, well service activities, and underwater services, due to the necessity of maintaining the integrity of offshore facilities, he added.

Bacho said there were also upcoming turnaround activities planned for 2025 where a huge workforce is expected to be in demand.

Looking at this, he stressed that a future-ready talent pipeline needs to be nurtured to support these growing requirements.

“The need to address unresolved talent issues within our industry is crucial. The industry must come together to excite new recruits, reaching them early by instilling interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to create a steady pool of skilled workforce for the industry.

“I encourage all of you to tap on Technical and Vocational Education and Training infrastructures locally and within the region to align talent and industry needs,” he said.

Failing to address these issues could affect critical areas such as health, safety and environment, quality, and integrity, added Bacho.

On another note, he said Petronas has deployed solutions to mitigate and reduce emissions through cleaner and more sustainable technologies and practices achieved through collaboration, rather than demonising the energy source (hydrocarbon) itself.

For this, Petronas has been able to increase production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions roughly to 8.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCo2e) from 20 mtCo2e via decarbonisation efforts between 2017 and 2022.

These initiatives were via collaborations with Petronas’ production sharing contracts (PSC) partners, technology providers, and support from state and federal government agencies, noted Bacho.