KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Any decisions on upstream assets and their review will be left entirely to Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) without political interference, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said Petronas is a corporate body recognised as one of the best companies in the world, and a long-term perspective must be considered, given the uncertainties in the global oil and gas market.
“Nonetheless, Petronas should take into account its asset portfolio. We see (Petronas has assets) in several countries, such as Brazil, where it has seven upstream, three development and four exploration blocks.
“This is similar to Canada. The operation in Canada, which is a strategic market, is due to its strength in a large natural gas reserve of around 50 trillion cubic feet (TCF). This has begun to be exported together with several other giant companies,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Anwar was replying to a question from Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (PH-Balik Pulau) regarding the rationale for implementing the rationalisation of Petronas’s asset portfolio and its strategy to deal with global market uncertainties involving the sale of assets, such as in Canada and Brazil.
He said it is important to review upstream assets, such as those in Brazil, continuously.
“Based on our experience, we will leave it to Petronas’s wisdom, commercial considerations, and investments without political interference. The company only reports (to the government),” said Anwar.
