Gas Supply Expected to Double by 2030
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PETRONAS’ and the State Government’s continued collaboration has constantly powered the growth of oil and gas resource development in Sabah. SMJ Energy, a state’s body, and PETRONAS – through a collaborative venture known as the Sabah Gas Strategy Joint Taskforce outlined a delivery strategy in its reports, “The Long-Term Gas Supply and Delivery Plan 2025 and the Sabah East Coast Gas Development Plan.”
The reports indicated that demand for additional gas will be driven by new power plants and PETRONAS’ third floating liquefied natural gas facility (PFLNG3). The reports found that Sabah’s gas supply is set to double from 700 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) to 1,350 MMscfd by 2030. The gas supply will be undertaken by seven offshore development projects involving two international and four Malaysian oil companies over the next four years.
The projects include the development of four new gas fields and new manufacturing investments along the West Coast corridor, stretching from Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) through the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis and the Sabah Oil & gas Industrial Park (SOGIP) in Sipitang and the Labuan gas terminals.
“The strategy provides a clear delivery plan to secure the gas supply required to support Sabah’s industrialisation ambitions,” Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said at a handover of reports event on 18 September 2026 at Hilton Hotel, Kota Kinabalu. For the Sabah East Coast Gas Development Plan, the Mutiara cluster of gas fields offshore Sandakan will supply gas to the Sawit Kinabalu Sandakan Industrial Park; and at the Sabah Electricity's Batu Sapi station, the system will be converted from diesel to gas-fired turbines.
These developments will enable the East Coast to generate its own gas-fired power and the east coast industries and users will no longer be dependent on supply from the West Coast. The strategy will spur opportunities to gas-based industry in Sandakan and the wider East Coast to participate in the energy / and oil and gas industry, Hajiji added.
