KUALA LUMPUR - Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will continue the divestment of non-core assets that offer little growth prospects, particularly in Africa, while at the same time look for investment opportunities around the globe.
"We continue to look for opportunities with value growth and divest where there's little value. We are looking at divesting our assets in Mauritania and Cameroon," Petronas upstream international vice-president Sharbini Suhaili (pic inset) said.
Speaking at a briefing at the sidelines of the International Petroleum Technology Conference here yesterday, Sharbini said the one block that Petronas had in Mauritania produced only about 6,000 barrels of oil per day and it had some gas assets in Cameroon.
Sharbini said Petronas was open to selling its assets in the two countries if it received attractive offers.
Divesting its non-core assets has been a strategy for Petronas for some time now.
Petronas had embarked on a worldwide review of its portfolio after Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas took the helm in February 2010. Markets in which Petronas has exited over the years included Pakistan, East Timor, Ethiopia and Brazil. It has a presence in 24 countries.
Sharbini added that Petronas was focusing more on finding oil assets, considering that it was a "very gassy" company, with 65 per cent-70 per cent of its portfolio of assets being gas-related.
He said Petronas was looking to grow in China as well as Argentina.
"For the last few years we have been trying to upgrade our portfolio and at the same time divesting assets which does not create value," Sharbini said, adding that Petronas had exited Venezuela, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Petronas had on Wednesday signed a US$550 million (S$722 million) deal with Argentina's state-controlled oil company YPF SA to drill fields at the world's fourth-largest shale oil deposit in Patagonia's Vaca Muerta. The companies ratified a preliminary accord signed in August to develop a 187 sq km area in Argentina's Neuquen province.
Sharbini (pic inset) said Petronas would continue to look for opportunities to grow in Argentina. "Argentina is very attractive. We want to experience operating in Argentina."
In addition, he said the group was also interested in Mexico. "In fact, we've just set up an office there."
Commenting on its assets in Iraq, Sharbini said Petronas was the largest international oil company in Iraq and that the assets returns were promising despite numerous challenges.
"There are always challenges. We can make it work and we are working well with our partners," he said.
Sharbini added that Petronas was also keen on entering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market. "We're very interested in taking a position in UAE. We've been pursuing it for a few years."
For Brazil, Shahril said although Petronas had exited the market, the group continued to explore opportunities there and had been talking to a few companies to see how things panned out. "That area has potential, the issue is cost and value."
Sharbini noted that despite the current low oil prices, Petronas would maintain its production growth of 1 per cent-2 per cent next year. It is currently producing about 2.2 million of barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day. Of this, 550,000 boe is produced from Petronas' international ventures.
Sharbini also said Petronas would make the final investment decision (FID) for its Canadian gas project in the first quarter of 2015.
"We will defer the FID to quarter one of next year," he said.
Last week, Petronas announced its decision to postpone its US$32 billion liquefied natural gas project in Canada. Petronas was supposed to announce the FID by year-end.