Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) over the weekend refuted media reports that it had deactivated 14 of its oil rigs.
“Petronas would like to clarify that the Company has not shut down any of its rigs, offshore Malaysia, other than those concluding their drilling campaigns or are under temporary suspensions due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. As at the date of this Release, 18 rigs are in operation within Malaysia waters,” the company said on Saturday.
Petronas said it also wishes to clarify that there was temporary suspension of projects at some worksites due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) implemented by the Government. “Currently, most of these projects have either resumed their work activities or will be resuming soon upon securing the necessary approval from the Government.”
The company said it is striving to minimise the impact to its planned domestic CAPEX programme in the face of the current challenges.
“However, we do expect that some projects will be naturally delayed due to the prolonged lockdowns implemented globally and the MCO in Malaysia, and further disruptions anticipated to the global supply chain,” Petronas said.
