Malaysia’s state oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad PETR.UL, known as Petronas, wants to extend its long-term contracts with Japanese customers to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG), a company executive said on Friday.

Speaking online at a press conference in Tokyo, vice president of LNG marketing and trading Shamsairi Ibrahim also said that Petronas would like to sell more LNG to Japan, which was the world’s top importer of the chilled fuel last year.

“Our wish is to continue to supply our LNG to Japan,” he virtually told reporters in Tokyo from Malaysia.

“For those contracts that are expiring, we’d like to continue, and if possible, to increase the volume.”

Petronas has long-term supply contracts with Japanese gas distributors such as Tokyo Gas and Osaka Gas, some of which are expiring this year and next.

Japan imported 97.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) of LNG last year, according to Refinitiv data, 3% down from 101 bcm in 2021.

According to Japan’s trade data, Malaysia exported 12 million tonnes of LNG to Japan in 2022, the second-biggest supplier of the fuel after Australia.

Separately, Petronas is also exploring the opportunity of entering Japan’s offshore wind power market, and possibly participating in the third round of Japan’s auctions with its partners, said Ezhar Yazid Jaafar, chief representative for the company’s Japan office.

The Japanese government is currently conducting the second major round of auctions. While no concrete agreement has been made, Petronas is in talks with local partners over a possible entry into the Japanese market, Jaafar said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, writing by Emily Chow in Singapore; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)