SE Asian NOCs find strength in numbers

A Petronas-Pertamina crude swap agreement was the latest instance of Southeast Asian NOCs teaming up to tackle shared energy security challenges

The $500mn crude oil swap deal between Malaysia’s Petronas and Indonesia’s Pertamina signed on 18 February was the latest in a trend of collaborative moves between NOCs in the region to boost efficiency and energy security. The deal targets midstream logistical savings but forms part of a broader agreement that extends to other midstream areas as well as upstream collaboration and has a potential value of $1bn. The agreement enables the NOCs to net-out expenses by swapping oil from fields that lay closer to each other’s refineries than their own. Pertamina says this will make an important contribution to national oil production goals. “This cooperation is part of Pertamina's efforts to impro