TotalEnergies raises Malaysian gas stake in partnership with Petronas

By America Hernandez and Sudarshan Varadhan

KUALA LUMPUR/PARIS (Reuters) -French energy giant TotalEnergies has acquired further stakes in Malaysian gas assets from the country's national producer Petronas, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Monday.

The French energy company has been expanding its presence in gas in Asia, where it sees greater potential for sales growth as the European Union seeks to shift energy consumption towards renewables by the middle of the century.

Pouyanne said at the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur the company was announcing a deal to double its gas stake in Malaysia "because it's just perfectly located to produce energy and to serve the market".

Total will hold new interests in multiple offshore blocks, including a 50% operated stake in blocks SK301b and SK313, where gas discoveries exceeding 4 trillion cubic feet were made. That gas will be developed to supply Malaysia LNG from 2030, according to a company statement.

Petronas and TotalEnergies also signed a strategic cooperation agreement to partner in exploration and production globally. As part of that, Petronas has ceded to Total a 24.5% interest in its Bobara block offshore Indonesia, which the pair will explore for oil.

"Together we will pursue and develop advantaged barrels across Malaysia's and Indonesia's frontier emerging exploration blocks," Petronas CEO Tan Sri Tengku Taufik said.

Last year TotalEnergies acquired 100% of SapuraOMV Upstream, an independent gas producer in Malaysia whose main assets are operating interests in offshore blocks SK408 (40%) and SK310 (30%).

The French company also signed liquefied natural gas contracts worth about 6 million metric tons in 2024, mostly to Asian clients, which Pouyanne on Monday said formed "the core" of Total's LNG business as sales to Europe diminish over time.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Martin Petty, Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)