Malaysian national oil company Petronas estimates it could take up to a year to repair and resume operations of a long-haul gas pipeline that feeds the Petronas LNG complex, although it remains confident that gas supply to customers will remain unaffected, writes Xu Yihe.

The Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) on the island of Borneo was shut in early in January after a major gas leak. A company official said Petronas is still assessing the extent of the damage and cause of the incident.

The leak led to gas supply from Kimanis in the East Malaysia state of Sabah being immediately cut off.

“It has a long pipeline and it will take six months to one year (before reopening the pipeline),” said Mohd Nazlee Rasol, executive assistant to president at Petronas. He added that internally the company has identified the cause of the leak, but it will still need to consult many other authorities for assurance.

Earlier, local industry officials suggested that heavy monsoon rains could have been to blame for a landslip and damage to the line.

The official said Petronas should be able to meet demand for gas supply despite the shutdown of the 512-kilometre pipeline, which normally transports up to 600 million cubic feet per day of gas to the Petronas LNG facilities at Bintulu.

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Petronas says Borneo pipe repair may take up to a year