AsianOil: Tokyo asks Malaysia to ease LNG supply woes

The Japanese government has reached out to Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) to request the firm's help with alleviating any LNG supply issues to customers in Japan following the Sabah-Sarawak Pipeline leak in late September.

Already facing pressure to guarantee ample LNG deliveries as Russia threatens to cut off supplies, and with temperatures across the country already starting to drop, Japanese buyers are clambering to source cargoes to replace those delayed by the leak.

The problems started on September 21 when a soil slippage later put down to localised liquefaction caused a break in one of Malaysia’s main pipelines.

Heavy rains from the seasonal south-west monsoon passing across the region at the time have been blamed for the soil movement, with a subsequent force majeure declaration made by Petronas in the ensuing days.

No public announcements followed from the government-owned firm in the days or weeks after the leak.

As such, no information on the volume of LNG lost or affected in the six weeks since the leak took place has been released.

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