Malaysian state energy firm Petroliam Nasional is preparing for a scenario in which the country, currently a key global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, starts to import the super-chilled fuel instead, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Petronas is planning to start importing LNG in four to five years, Chief Executive Tengku Muhammad Taufik said at a press briefing at the Asia Energy conference.

This comes amid expectations that domestic demand for gas in the Southeast Asian nation will rise.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik added that Petronas is also working to get a third regasification plant up and running in Malaysia, but did not specify when that would be.

The Southeast Asian nation was the world’s fifth-largest LNG exporter in 2024, shipping out nearly 28 million metric tons of the fuel last year, according to data from Kpler.

Of this volume, 10.8 million tons was shipped to Japan, while China and South Korea took about 7 million tons each.
Source: Reuters