Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stressed that liquefied natural gas (LNG) export operations in Bintulu, Sarawak, remain unaffected despite recent security concerns.
Anwar said control measures were immediately implemented once the security threats were identified, reported Bernama.
“So far, there has been no issue of declining export demand,” he said after attending a Sarawak PKR meeting in Kuching.
“The area is strategic and any threat is treated very seriously.
“Petronas informed me when the threat was reported, and we immediately deployed police and security forces to secure the site.”
Threatening text messages sent to a Petronas officer prompted the National Security Council (MKN) to order tighter security at all LNG facilities in Bintulu on Monday.
Deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof had said the text messages were sent from a phone number registered in Indonesia.
He said the sender initially sent a “specific request” to the Petronas officer, who ignored the SMS.
“Because there was no response, the person threatened to burn our LNG facilities, but who knows which one,” said Fadillah on Tuesday.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail today said police are working with their Indonesian counterparts to trace the sender of the text messages.
Petronas has said that operations at its facilities were unaffected by the security threat.
Petronas, through its subsidiary Malaysia LNG, operates the Bintulu LNG complex, one of the largest single-site facilities of its kind in the world.
The site houses nine liquefaction plants spread over 111.7ha, an area comparable to more than 200 football fields. Its production capacity stands at about 29.3 million to 30 million tonnes a year.
