KUALA LUMPUR: PETRONAS Gas Bhd (PGB), the gas processing and transmission arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), is talking with several industry players to import liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It also plans to use its soon-to-be-launched LNG re-gasification facility in Sungai Udang, Malacca to convert LNG into natural gas.

Managing director and chief executive officer Samsudin Miskon said Petronas was currently underwriting 100 per cent of the capacity at the re-gasification facility and had expressed its willingness to share the capacity with a third party, in line with its "open access" policy in terms of gas supply and distribution.

"Yes, we have been approached by the third party. We are waiting for them to secure suppliers and customers so that we can sign an agreement with them.

"When they are ready, we will be more than happy to sign contracts with them," he said during a familiarisation trip to the LNG re-gasification facility, here.

However, he declined to reveal the industry players who had approached PGB to use the Sungai Udang re-gasification facility, also known as re-gasification terminal (RGT).

Samsudin said the re-gasification facility, Malaysia's first, had reached its mechanical completion stage, almost two years after the project was announced in June 2010.

"PGB is progressing ahead with the preparation to commission the project for commercial operation, which is scheduled for August," he said.

To mark this milestone, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam are expected to officially launch the facility on Monday, in conjunction with the World Gas Conference 2012 taking place in Kuala Lumpur.

The prime minister announced the project on June 10 2010 when he presented the 10th Malaysia Plan. The project is estimated to cost about RM3 billion.

Following the announcement, Samsudin said the task of developing the RGT was assigned by Petronas to PGB, which implemented the project on a fast-track basis to meet its completion deadline in record time, and with a significantly lower cost than its original RM3 billion budget.

Developed based on a revolutionary design, it comprises the world's first-of-its-kind re-gasification unit on an island jetty (JRU), two floating storage units (FSU) and a 3km subsea pipeline connecting to a new 30km onshore pipeline that links to PGB's existing Peninsular Malaysia Gas Utilisation (PGU) pipeline network.

"What is unique about our Sungai Udang RGT is that we are using an island jetty, spanning 980m-long. There are not many such JRU facilities in the world.

"Also, the independent re-gasification facility is being built on the jetty itself, unlike other similar facilities elsewhere."

He said the JRU had a capacity to receive, store and vaporise up to 3.8 million tonnes per annum or 530 million standard cubic feet per day of LNG, which will be imported from various supply sources globally, including from Petronas' LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.

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