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Masidi said the cost of maintaining the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal – which runs from Kimanis, Sabah to Bintulu, Sarawak – was high, Berita Harian reported.
He said he was of the view that the national petroleum company was reassessing its priorities given the challenges and the cost of maintenance involved in the transfer of gas between the two states.
Masidi said attending to any problem along the pipeline was difficult and expensive due to its length. The pipeline runs for 500km.
“So I reckon Petronas was being practical,” he was quoted as saying.
On Jan 28, The Edge reported that Petronas would decommission the SSGP as part of its plans from 2025 to 2027.
The natural gas pipeline which was built in 2011 for over RM4 billion has been beset by geohazard risks and soil movements, “leading to several incidents including a fatal force majeure event”.
Petronas, the financial portal reported, stated that decommissioning activities of matured assets in Malaysian upstream operations were “essential to restore the area to a safe and environmentally stable condition”.
Masidi, who is also the chairman of state-owned company SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd, went on to say that Petronas might have also taken into account the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which is currently being constructed in Sipitang.
It is likely that Petronas would have also factored in the LNG facility in Bintulu, which is reputed to be the largest in the world, when deciding on decommissioning the SSGP, he added.
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