Petronas opens 2026 bidding for oil and gas exploration blocks

Malaysia's state energy firm Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) on Wednesday launched a new round of bids for nine oil and gas exploration blocks across the country.

The exploration blocks on offer are in the Sandakan and West Sarawak basins off Borneo, as well as the Malay basin off Peninsular Malaysia, it said in a statement.

The bid round also includes six discovered resource opportunities offering "ready-to-develop" pathways for monetisation, Petronas said. Malaysia Petroleum Management Senior Vice President, Bacho Pilong, said

Malaysia's upstream industry will require investments of up to MYR60 billion ($15.29 billion) a year to fulfil the country's growing energy demand and help power its digital economy and manufacturing sectors.

As part of the bid round, Petronas also signed several memoranda of understanding with Global FCNG, ZDA Corporation and MTC Engineering to strengthen local partnerships and enhance Malaysia's technology-driven solutions ecosystem, it said.

Petronas said it was also expanding its energy transition and carbon capture and storage efforts through a new agreement with Petronas Carigali and Hibiscus Oil Gas to integrate offshore workplans and optimise resource development.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by David Stanway)