Petronas denies shutting down 14 oil rigs in Malaysia

(Borneo Post Online) – Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has denied deactivating or shutting down its 14 oil rigs in Malaysia as alleged in a recent news report by a national daily.

In a statement issued from Kuala Lumpur today, Petronas clarified that the company has not shut down any of its located offshore Malaysia, other than those concluding their drilling campaigns or are under temporary suspensions due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

It said that as of now, 18 rigs are in operation within Malaysia waters.

“Petronas also wishes to clarify that there was temporary suspension of projects at some worksites due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) implemented by the government. currently, most of these projects have either resumed their work activities or will be resuming soon upon securing the necessary approval from the government.

“Petronas is striving to minimise the impact to its planned domestic Capex (Capital Expenditure) programme in the face of the current challenges.

“However, we do expect that some projects will be naturally delayed due to the prolonged lockdowns implemented globally and the MCO in Malaysia, and further disruptions anticipated to the global supply chain,” said the statement.

It was issued in response to a news report on the New Straits Times dated April 24, regarding the regarding the deactivation of 14 Petronas oil rigs as reported in its print version, and the shutting down of 14 projects as reported in its electronic version.

The news report alleged the national oil company has reduced the number of its fully active rigs from 18 to four since oil price began dropping late last year.

Quoting an industry publication, it said Petronas had shut down or warm-stacked 14 projects until oil price recovers to break even levels.