Malaysia’s state-owned energy company Petronas posted a significant loss due to weak oil prices and demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The company now aims at deepening its push to expand its portfolio on the renewable energy segment. Petronas newly-appointed CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said the company was not spared by the current challenging situation in the oil and gas industry, which he called a “great reset.”
The MYR21-billion ($5.06 billion) loss after tax in the April-June quarter was well below the MYR14.7-billion profit after tax recorded a year earlier. It is also the company’s first quarterly loss in five years and is attributed mostly to net impairment losses on assets and lower revenue. Revenue for the quarter plunged 42% year-on-year to MYR34 billion ($8.19 billion) due to lower average realised prices and sales volume.
For the first half of 2020, Petronas’ loss after tax stood at MYR16.5 billion ($3.97 billion), compared to an MYR28.9 billion profit after tax in the same period last year. The first-half EBITDA slid 46% year-on-year to MYR29.4 billion ($7.08 billion), while revenue fell 23% to MYR93.6 billion ($22.54 billion) over the same period.
Against such backdrops, Petronas aims at accelerating transformation toward clean energy sources. Tengku Muhammad Taufik said oil and gas would take a 47% share in the global energy mix in 2040, declining from about 54% in 2018. He noted that renewables were expected to see a sharp pick-up in future growth.
Tengku Muhammad Taufik added that declining costs and continuous technology advancements had expanded solar and wind growth potential. He said that Petronas would focus its new energy venture on the Asia Pacific region, which is expected to account for most of the renewable capacity additions. Petronas’ Sustainability Agenda aims at expanding renewable capacity by 3GW in 2024.
