Malaysian indie Hibiscus eyes regional growth

The company’s expansion will not end with its recent acquisition of Repsol assets in Southeast Asia, says managing director Kenneth Pereira

Southeast Asia has traditionally been the preserve of NOCs and IOCs. Powerful state companies such as Malaysia’s Petronas, Indonesia’s Pertamina and Thailand’s PTT  dominated domestic hydrocarbon sectors, often in lockstep with their international partners. But, as in other parts of the world, that is changing with the entry of entrepreneurial outfits that are emerging to fill a gap left by departing IOCs. Hibiscus Petroleum, a Malaysian E&P company that also operates in the UK North Sea, is one such company. It acquired the Malaysian and Vietnamese upstream assets of Spain’s Repsol in early June, paying $212.5mn for a 35pc interest in the PM3 CAA production-sharing contract (PSC) and 60