This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 11, 2017 - August 17, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply in India to help meet the rising demand there is a high priority for Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), the national oil company said yesterday.

Its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, who is currently meeting India’s industry leaders and partners, said Petronas has an added advantage to provide tailor-made solutions across the LNG value chain.

This includes flexibility, engineering expertise, and experience in operations management due to Petronas’ long history and sterling reputation in the global LNG business, he said in a statement.

With over 30 million tonnes per annum of supply capacity, Petronas is currently the third-largest LNG player globally. With this, it hopes to further contribute to the energy needs of India, which is the fourth-largest LNG market in the world.

To date, Petronas has delivered 15 LNG cargoes to India. Recently, the company also delivered to India the first cargo produced from its floating LNG production facility, which is the first such facility in the world.

“Petronas aims to continue to be part of India’s exciting journey and support its sustainable growth ambitions and commitments through further collaborations with our existing partners as well as through new strategic-fit opportunities,” said Wan Zulkiflee.

Petronas’ strategic partnerships in India have also resulted in successful advances in the marketing and trading of crude oil and other petroleum products, and petrochemicals, as well as the distribution of lubricants.

The national oil company also sees growth in demand for petrochemicals in India — especially with the growing affluence that will see increased demand for consumer products.

In 2016, India made up over 100,000 tonnes of Petronas’ petrochemicals sales volume.

To strengthen Petronas’ lubricant business in India, subsidiary Petronas Lubricants International (PLI), is investing US$150 million (RM644 million) over the next five years.

The investment includes the building of a US$50 million lubricant blending plant with a 110 million-litre capacity in Patalganga, India, which is to be completed by the first quarter of 2018.

Wan Zulkiflee said this investment is also in line with the Indian government’s “Make in India” transformation initiative.

The plant is set to be the most modern facility in PLI’s global production network with unique capabilities to blend the most complex fluids. It is also equipped with a technical service facility that utilises the latest equipment in fluid analytics.

“We are aiming to triple our market share in India’s lubricant market by 2022. Globally, we are among the top 10 lubricant players by market share, and striving to eventually be among the top five in five years,” said Wan Zulkiflee.

PLI also has a reliable network of multiple original equipment manufacturer partnerships, notably with Tata Motors, Fiat, New Holland, Doosan, Case Construction, Maruti Suzuki India, Piaggio and BharatBenz for branded and co-branded lubricants.

Wan Zulkiflee said he was extremely encouraged by the growth and performance of the Petronas liquid petroleum gas (LPG) joint venture with Indian Oil Corp Ltd which currently owns LPG bottling terminals in Haldia, West Bengal, and in Ennore, Tamil Nadu.

During this official visit, Petronas also commemorated a three-year agreement between its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and Reliance Industries Ltd for the supply of up to 120,000 tonnes of paraxylene.

“I look forward to seeing more collaborations fostered between Petronas and our counterparts in India, to pave the way for a stronger cooperation for mutual benefit,” Wan Zulkiflee added.