Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas plans to reserve some liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its share of a joint venture in Canada to trade in the spot market, a senior executive said.
Shamsairi M Ibrahim, vice president of LNG marketing and trading at Petronas, also said Petronas aimed to sell some U.S. gas, bought via a long-term contract, in the spot market.
Petronas has committed about 80% of its 25% equity share from the 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG Canada project in Kitimat, British Columbia, that is led by Shell to long-term contracts with customers, Shamsairi told Reuters.
The rest of Petronas’ share from the project, is expected to come online around 2025, could be traded in the spot market or fulfil the seasonal demand of its customers, Shamsairi said.
“We looked at the forward (pricing) curve and we would like to continue to be active members in the (spot) gas space,” he said.
Gas prices in Europe and spot LNG prices in Asia are expected to stay elevated because of disruption to Russian supplies after Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Petronas recently signed a contract to lift 1 mtpa of LNG from Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG project in the United States for 20 years, diversifying its portfolio.
“It’s competitive and we also have a position in the UK,” Shamsairi said, adding that the supply could be sold in the spot market to Europe or Asia depending on arbitrage economics.
He also said Petronas was in talks to renew some of its LNG contracts from Bintulu LNG that expire in one or two years.