KUALA LUMPUR: Oil and gas companies operating in Malaysia are seeking more clarity on the country’s future direction in the energy transition in line with the global trend of accelerating to a low or zero-carbon future.
ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc president Edward Graham said most O&G players were finding ways to be cost-competitive and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.
This was in tandem with the global energy industry’s transition to renewables and low carbon solutions.
“We hear a lot about energy transition but not so much on energy reduction. The reality is, the world’s population is expected to grow from 7.0 billion to 9.0 billion people by 2040.
“The projection of the total energy consumption is likely to increase by 25 per cent and it has to be accommodated,” Graham said in an executive panel session at the inaugural virtual Re-Imagining Malaysia Assets (Reset) 2021 Conference here yesterday.
He said industry players also aspired to make hydrocarbon products lower in GHG emission, which can be marketed as “premium”.
“We need creative ways to drive that (cost) down operationally through some technology implementation. There is a need for collective infrastructure that we need to design and build,” he said.
Malaysian Oil and Gas Services Council (MOGSC) president Sharifah Zaida Nurlisha Syed Ibrahim said O&G services companies were ready to find and deliver the best solutions to enhance the country’s future energy production and consumption.
“We need to understand the demand and support the move (direction). But the major challenge is cost-effectiveness – an important benchmark that needs to be rationalised by the industry stakeholders.
“It is not just solely to get the cheapest cost – it will jeopardise the risk, but rather to get the most cost-effective is important for asset owners,” she added.
Sharifah Zaida said clarity in roadmap would be beneficial for industry players to deploy their asset (manpower and resources) efficiently, which translates into cost reduction.
“Cost optimisation exercise is not about cost-cutting but, taking into account the safety measures for the people to ensure the sustainability of the industry.”
She said MOGSC can facilitate business-to-business networking and partnership to find the best available technologies and research, while major oil companies should be more “upfront” about the future’s direction to gain support from the industry players.
