Bintulu, 18 September 2023 – The Bintulu Additional Gas Facility (BAGSF-2) commences delivery of gas to a new Sarawak methanol plant in Bintulu, supporting the further growth of petrochemical industry in the State of Sarawak. The initial supply of gas from BAGSF-2 via a newly built pipeline provides the fuel for the commissioning of the world scale Sarawak Petchem Sdn Bhd (SPSB)’s methanol plant.
With a design capacity of 390 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscfd), the BAGSF-2 facility caters for the requirement of the new methanol plant (160 MMscfd), plus 70 MMscfd to supply to the Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB)’s existing power plant in Bintulu. The remaining capacity is allocated for other projects earmarked in Bintulu, under the Sarawak Gas Roadmap.
A ceremony was held at the facility in Tanjung Kidurong to commemorate the facility’s readiness to deliver the gas, where the Guest of Honour was the Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Abang Haji Openg. Also in attendance were Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, State Ministers, and Deputy Ministers. PETRONAS was represented by Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management, Mohamed Firouz Asnan whilst PETRONAS Carigali, the Operator of BAGSF-2 was represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Puan Hasliza Othman.
Speaking on behalf of PETRONAS, Firouz said, “This additional supply of gas will power the further growth of Sarawak’s downstream sector, especially in the Bintulu area. PETRONAS is honored to be a part of this pursuit to add value to hydrocarbon resources found off the coast of Sarawak.”
“This project is a testament of our commitment to support the State’s aspiration for greater downstream development. This is grounded in our ‘Amanah’ to responsibly develop the hydrocarbon resources in Malaysia for the benefit of her people”, Firouz added.
In 2016, PETRONAS signed an agreement with Sarawak Government to supply a total of 450MMscfd of natural gas to Sarawak for power generation and state-owned petrochemical industries, which led to the construction of BAGSF-2 undertaken by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd. Five years later, PETRONAS signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase gas supply to 1,200 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to Sarawak.