KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Sumitomo Corporation have formed a pact to jointly market and supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers and related services through Petronas Marine brand in both Malaysia and Tokyo Bay area in Japan.
Petronas said its wholly-owned Petronas Trading Corporation Sdn Bhd (Petco) had signed a memorandum of collaboration with Sumitomo to build industrial platforms and end-to-end supply chains that offer environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient LNG.
The LNG will be used as a marine fuel and reduce the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions attributable to maritime transport.
Petco chief executive officer Shamsul Bahari Salleh said as a progressive energy and solutions partner, Petronas was continuously looking to co-create a sustainable market environment with industry players.
"We recognise our role in delivering the next generation fuel to cater for the bunker demand in the maritime industry. We are pleased to be collaborating with Sumitomo and hope to collaborate with other players in the LNG bunkering business in Japan in meeting our customers' emerging needs," said Shamsul in a statement today.
Sumitomo department general manager Shu Nakamura said it was confident that the collaboration would pave the way towards the development of LNG as a cleaner marine fuel in both Malaysia and Tokyo Bay, which are strategically important marine hubs to both parties.
"With this agreement, we pursue our ambition to build a comprehensive network of LNG bunkering. It also underscores our commitment to offer our customers the best available and technologically-proven solution to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of maritime transport," said Nakamura.
As LNG continues to play a key role as the next generation fuel to cater for the bunker fuel demand in the maritime industry, both companies are committed to promoting the solution to the market by having the right infrastructures in place, ensuring availability of supply and through continuous advocacy to users.
Last November, Petronas delivered its first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering transfer in Pasir Gudang, Johor from the 7,500 cubic meter MV Avenir Advantage, Petronas's first LNG bunkering vessel under Petronas Marine brand to promote the use of LNG as a cleaner marine fuel.
Sumitomo has also ordered an LNG bunkering vessel through a joint venture, Ecobunker Shipping Co Ltd, which is on track to commence LNG bunker service in Tokyo Bay this year.