It has declared a safety shutdown on gas supply to its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility.

Petronas said the leak was caused by soil movement in the vicinity of KP201 on Sept 21.

“This has impacted the supply of gas to MLNG Dua’s production facility at the Petronas LNG Complex (PLC) in Bintulu, Sarawak,” it said in a statement.

Petronas has declared a force majeure as these unforeseeable circumstances have prevented it from fulfilling its contract.

Petronas clarified that the force majeure would affect the supply of gas only to MLNG Dua’s production facility. The other LNG production facilities within the complex would continue to operate as planned.

It was aware that the incident had impacted its delivery commitments to some of its contracted LNG buyers and is currently in discussions to identify suitable mitigation efforts.

“Petronas is currently conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the gas pipeline to ensure its integrity and safety,” it said.

FMT has reached out to Petronas for further updates.

On Thursday, Ba’Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian issued a statement on Facebook demanding that Petronas verify the latest leak involving the Sarawak-Sabah gas pipeline that occurred near Pa Berunut, Lawas.

He said four other leaks had taken place between 2014 and 2020 along the pipeline in Long Sukang, near SK Long Sukang, Long Segaman and Long Kawah.

He suggested that the 600km pipeline, running from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak, should be shutdown permanently.

This was due to safety concerns as many populated settlements were located along the pipeline route.