This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 10, 2026 - August 16, 2026

TAN Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz looks set to stay on at the helm of national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) following an extension of his contract at the company.

Three industry sources say Muhammad Taufik, who turned 52 this February, has received a contract renewal with PETRONAS following its expiry in July, marking the second extension of his tenure as president, group CEO and executive director.

His contract was first extended in July 2023, three years after he joined PETRONAS in July 2020.

Asked whether Muhammad Taufik’s contract had been extended, PETRONAS said in an email that it “does not comment on speculation or matters relating to internal personnel arrangements”.

According to a source, his contract is for three years while a second source says it could be for two years. There could, of course, also be a situation where he has a two-year-plus-one-year extension contract.

Speculation has been rife over whether Muhammad Taufik’s contract would be extended again as the Fortune 500 organisation stayed quiet on the matter even as the expiry date drew near. There have also been several developments that have fuelled talk of Muhammad Taufik’s possible departure.

Talk of Muhammad Taufik leaving intensified in February this year, when the national oil company appointed Mohd Jukris Abdul Wahab as its new chief operating officer (COO) in its effort to enhance its senior leadership structure. Mohd Jukris, who also holds the role of executive vice-president and CEO of Upstream at PETRONAS, was brought back from retirement.

An internal note by Muhammad Taufik sighted by The Edge said that the COO will support him on matters involving the federal and state governments to ensure unified and coherent engagement across the organisation.

Some parties viewed Jukris’ appointment as an indication of a succession plan at PETRONAS, further creating talk of the changing of the guard at the time.

It is also noteworthy that PETRONAS and Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) are at loggerheads over the control of oil and gas resources in Sarawak. That said, observers say it would make sense to keep Muhammad Taufik at the helm given that the PETRONAS and Petros negotiations are near completion, to ensure that the negotiations can proceed smoothly.

The feud between Sarawak and PETRONAS largely revolves around the 5% oil royalty paid by PETRONAS to the state. Sarawak views the royalty share as low and has indicated a preference for 20%.

Meanwhile, PETRONAS has suggested that the 5% royalty given to the oil-producing states was risk-free as the states were not involved in the development and operation to secure the hydrocarbon assets.

Sarawak holds about 60% of the country’s gas reserve and accounts for 90% of its liquefied natural gas exports.

The situation escalated when Petros was appointed by the state government as the sole gas aggregator in Sarawak in February 2024 in an attempt to crimp PETRONAS’ powers. This led to a dispute on the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Petroleum Development Act 1974.

Since then, there have been a number of attempts to pacify both parties. In May last year, the federal and Sarawak governments inked a joint declaration on the issues but the details were not disclosed.

Despite the number of deadlines that have been imposed by the federal and state administrations, the feud has not been resolved.

The PETRONAS-Petros dispute aside, the current uncertain geopolitical situation, which has caused volatility in crude oil prices, is another reason why it would make sense for Muhammad Taufik to stay on as the head of PETRONAS.

Bringing in a new person at this juncture will mean a steep learning curve for the person, say observers, given the crucial time for the national oil company to ensure sufficient fuel continuity for the economy.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025), PETRONAS’ net profit fell 17.6% to RM45.4 billion from RM55.1 billion a year ago as prices of oil and petrochemicals fell sharply. Full-year revenue was dragged down 16.8% to RM266.1 billion from RM320 billion in FY2024 as prices declined amid the fragile and volatile global economy.

Following the release of its FY2025 financial results, the PETRONAS board approved a dividend of RM20 billion for 2026, in line with the government’s projections in Budget 2026. It had paid RM32 billion in the year before. 

In corporate circles, many know Muhammad Taufik as a former partner of audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia (PwC Malaysia) and replacing Datuk Manharlal Ratila, better known as Datuk George Ratilal, as PETRONAS chief financial officer (CFO) in October 2018.

The veterans in PETRONAS, they may also remember Muhammad Taufik as the young executive assistant of the late Tun Azizan Zainul Abidin, the man who laid the foundation of PETRONAS in the 1980s, setting the stage for the company to be the giant that it is today.

Muhammad Taufik, after spending some years in PETRONAS decided to seek greener pastures in the corporate world and left in 2010 joining Tanjung Plc and later SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (now known as Vantris Energy Bhd) as CFO between Dec 2012 and January 2015. 

It is noteworthy that Muhammad Taufik came in at a time when the mantra for oil was “lower for longer” as crude oil prices collapsed in mid-2014. To recap, Brent Crude tumbled from US$115 per barrel in June 2014 to US$26 in February 2016 — its lowest since early 2002.

The plunge in crude prices sent the global oil & gas industry into a severe downturn for years. 

Adding to the challenges, production costs escalated as oil majors explored ultra-deepwater wells.

The ESG buzzword as well resulted in oil and gas companies, the likes of PETRONAS, being shunned. There is growing resistance among the financial institutions lending to fossil fuel producers.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.