Malaysia's Petronas sees lower profitability amid volatile oil and gas prices

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia's state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad, also known as Petronas, reported lower third-quarter profit on Wednesday, and said it expects profitability to be squeezed by volatile oil and gas prices.

Volatility in prices were expected to be higher due to economic uncertainties and heightened concerns over global energy security amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Petronas president and chief executive Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said in a statement.

"Against this backdrop, Petronas anticipates lower profits compared to last year," he said, adding that the company will continue to focus on its core business and sustainability agenda.

The company reported a lower profit after tax of 23.9 billion ringgit ($5.14 billion) for the July-September period, compared with a profit of 30.8 billion ringgit in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue in the quarter fell to 82.9 billion ringgit primarily due to lower average realised prices, compared with 98.9 billion ringgit last year, Petronas said.

Capital investments amounted to 34.3 billion ringgit, mainly attributed to upstream and gas projects, it said.

Domestic capital expenditure rose by 37 per cent against the same period last year, mainly for its floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Sabah state and the Kasawari gas field development in Sarawak state, Petronas said.

($1 = 4.6495 ringgit)

(This story has been refiled to add dropped words 'gas' and 'be' in the headline and paragraph 1)