KUALA LUMPUR (March 26): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas (O&G) company, is said to be looking to raise up to US$3 billion (RM13.27 billion) through a three-tranche US dollar bond issuance, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Edge has reached out to Petronas to confirm the matter.

Last October, Bloomberg, citing sources, wrote that Petronas had sought proposals from bankers for a potential dollar bond offering.

The group’s last issuance was in 2021, when it raised US$3 billion (about RM12.33 billion) through a dual-tranche senior bond offering. This comprised US$1.25 billion of 10.75-year notes and US$1.75 billion of 40-year conventional notes, carrying coupons of 2.48% and 3.404%, respectively.

As at Dec 31, 2024, Petronas' notes and bonds stood at RM62.77 billion, accounting for over 56% of its total borrowings of RM110.90 billion.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), the state-owned oil and gas group posted a profit after tax (PAT) of RM55.1 billion, down 31.7% from RM80.7 billion the previous year, which it attributed to lower average realised prices and favourable tax adjustments in 2023.

Revenue slipped 6.9% year-on-year to RM320 billion from RM343.6 billion in FY2023, primarily due to softer energy prices despite higher sales volumes.

Meanwhile, Petronas is set to commence a rightsizing exercise by mid-2025, which its president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik told a media briefing in early February needed to be done "to ensure the survival of Petronas", amid an increasingly challenging global operating environment. The initiative is to reduce the number of administrative roles, or “enablers”, which currently account for 15,000 to 16,000 out of its total workforce of 52,000 to 53,000 — a ratio said to be above industry average.

Muhammad Taufik stressed that the rightsizing was not a result of the Sarawak government’s request to take over the gas aggregator role in the state from Petronas.

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