PARIS, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A global affairs official at French energy company GDF Suez said entering a joint venture working in deep Malaysian waters anchors its regional position.
The French company said Thursday it joined Malaysian energy company Petronas and Japanese energy company JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration in Block 3F in deep Malaysian waters.
"GDF Suez reinforces its positioning in Asia-Pacific, a most promising region, through this new acquisition in exploration-production activities in Malaysia," Jean-Marie Dauger, a vice president in charge of the global gas business, said in a statement.
He added the venture now has a new opportunity for the marketing of liquefied natural gas to the Asian market with its Malaysian operation.
The joint venture partners are to spend the next three years on a drilling and exploration campaign in Block 3F, which covers an estimated 1,600 square miles off the Malaysian coast. If they find commercial quantities of gas, it will be marketed through existing LNG facilities, Dauger said.
Malaysia is No. 3 in the world in terms of exports of LNG, behind Qatar and Indonesia.
