KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian state energy firm Petronas on Tuesday announced a record 18.1 billion dollars in net profit for 2007/2008 and said it was still keen on pursuing Iran's Pars liquefied natural gas project.
"We have performed quite well. It is another historic set of numbers for Petronas Group," president and chief executive Mohamad Hassan Marican told reporters.
The profit compared to 12.9 billion dollars the previous year.
Petronas, under intense criticism with allegations of mismanagement and secrecy, also announced a special dividend payout of 6.0 billion ringgit (1.9 billion dollars) to the government.
Hassan said Petronas was still interested in the 2.0-billion-dollar LNG joint venture project in Iran but that it had not completed negotiations with the Iranian government due to rising costs.
"We can't come to a final decision because we need to make an assessment of the price, costs and the viability of the project," he said.
Hassan said Petronas had the resources to participate in the project on its own, after French energy giant Total dropped out of what was supposed to be a three-party development with the Iranian government.
"We are capable and able to undertake the project," he said.
Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas.
The South Pars field in the Gulf has around 500 trillion cubic feet (14 trillion cubic metres) of gas, which represents about eight percent of world reserves.
Petronas, the only Malaysian company in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest firms, has a 20 percent stake in the Pars LNG production company, which was set up in 2004 to build a liquefaction facility in Iran.
France's Total SA had a 30 percent stake while the National Iranian Gas Export Company holds the remaining 50 percent.
Hassan said oil prices would "continue to strengthen" due to strong demand, security and political problems in oil-rich countries, and a shortage of skilled personnel in the industry.
Due to higher oil prices and stronger sales volume, revenues rose 29.8 percent to 66.2 billion dollars in 2007-08.
Petronas has faced public wrath since a recent 41 percent hike in the price of petrol, with the opposition demanding it open its accounts and explain how vast revenues from the nation's oil exports have been spent.
But Hassan said it was risky for the government to depend on oil revenue.
He said that Malaysia, now a net exporter of oil, could become a net importer by 2011 if demand continues to expand by six percent per year, even though Malaysia will be able to produce oil for another 22 years.
"We have small reserves. Our reserves will be more and more in deep waters in offshore Sabah and Sarawak. It is more challenging to discover hydrocarbons," he said.
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