Petronas backs faster exploration
The Malaysian NOC will continue with oil and gas exploration despite the energy transition, says CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik
“We will still explore,” Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik told the Energy Intelligence Forum 2021. But the needs of the energy transition—including the NOC’s own pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050—means upstream projects will “have to reach maturation faster... and can be monetised early”. As an explorer, Petronas has to be “more efficient, more cost-effective, cleaner and faster,” Taufik says. Despite the strength of the crude market, Petronas is still applying a “$40/bl test” to assess the viability of potential projects, although Taufik says the company is now looking at $55-60/bl “in the near term”. The Petronas CEO also gave a vigorous defence of gas as a transition fuel, emphasisin
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution






