Malaysia's Petronas Q1 profit falls on high costs, low prices

MALAYSIA’S state energy firm Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) reported a near 11 per cent decline in first-quarter net profit on Friday (May 31) due to higher operating costs and lower realised prices across its businesses.

Profit after tax in the three months ended Mar 31 was RM21.3 billion (S$6.11 billion), down from RM23.8 billion a year ago. Revenue was largely flat at RM89.7 billion.

“For the first quarter of 2024, the oil and gas market continued to be affected by the instability of the macroeconomics and geopolitical dynamics amid the energy transition that leads to a prolonged volatile pricing landscape,” the energy firm said in a statement.

Petronas’ upstream business, its top profit-making segment, saw a 9 per cent decline in post-tax profit to RM11.32 billion due to higher product costs and operating expenses, while the gas segment’s profit slipped 28 per cent to RM6.28 billion due to lower liquefied natural gas prices. REUTERS