Malaysia's integrated gas and oil company, Petronas, on October 8, 2022, declared force majeure on gas supply to Malaysia's LNG Dua liquefaction terminal due to a leakage in one of the pipelines. The leak resulted from soil movement in the vicinity of KP201, Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline, which occurred on September 21.

In a statement, Petronas said the leak had lowered the supply of gas to Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas (MLNG) Dua's production facility at Petronas Liquefied Natural Gas Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.

However, the company clarified that the force majeure only affects the gas supply to MLNG Dua's production facility. The other Liquefied Natural Gas production facilities within the PLC will continue with normal operations.

Petronas did not mention how much gas supply would be affected or when the inconvenience would last. It was an unseen problem, and the company is still determining when it will curb it. The low liquefied natural gas production will see the company supply the LNG to fewer customers.

Last Thursday, Mitsubishi Corp of Japan said Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas which Petronas majorly own, had issued a force majeure on Liquefied Natural Gas Supplies to Mitsubishi and other customers as a result of the pipeline leak.

Petrona's statement indicated that the pipeline leak had affected its delivery commitments to some of its contracted LNG customers, and the company was committed to developing suitable mitigation measures to restore normalcy. However, the firm did not anticipate the problem and hence had to issue the force majeure as it looked into the matter.

Petronas has a great reputation as an established provider of Liquefied Natural Gas, and there is a need for the company to keep up its standards. Therefore, the issue of the pipeline leak should be investigated and a remedy sought before it escalates and damages the company's reputation.

The company is evaluating Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline to ensure high integrity and safety standards. This step that Petronas has taken will only be efficient and effective if the company utilizes engineers with great expertise in liquefied natural gas technology.

According to Mitsubishi, the Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas project is one of the largest Liquefied Natural Gas facilities in a single location in the world. It has an annual total Liquefied Natural Gas capacity of 25.7 million tons.

This capacity implies that the project should be well-guarded and protected from pipeline leaks and any other dangers that may hinder the company from producing enough liquefied natural gas.