Sabah - Sarawak Gas Pipeline

The first explosion before this.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): There was an explosion on Sunday on the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline in East Malaysia but the situation is now under control, a fire and rescue department official said on Monday.

“The explosion is still under investigation. Due to communication problems and the remoteness (of the site), our team was late in relaying information to our system. But Petronas’ ERT (emergency response team) brought the explosion and a small fire under control,” Sarawak state department director Khirudin Drahman told Reuters.

State-owned energy company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) operates the 500-kilometre-long pipeline. The explosion occurred in the northern district of Marudi.

Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is not clear if Petronas halted operations of the pipeline, which carries gas from the Kebabangan gas field in Sabah state to Bintulu in Sarawak where Petronas operates one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities.

Petronas last shut down the pipeline in May for maintenance.

Petronas is the sole manager of Malaysia's oil and gas reserves. Malaysia is the world's third-biggest LNG exporter after Qatar and Australia..... theedgemarket.

Along the road.

Pictures during construction.

Video from Long Bedian

Burning scene from Long Bedian

Another explosion occurs along Sarawak-Sabah interstate gas pipeline

MIRI: An explosion occurred along a section of the RM4bil Sarawak-Sabah interstate gas pipeline located in the remote jungles of Baram early Monday (Jan 13).

The pre-dawn incident happened not far from Long Kawa, a Penan settlement located in the Telang Usan state constituency, about eight hours by timber road from here, sources told The Star.

Telang Usan state assemblyman Dennis Ngau confirmed the case.

"Yes, apparently there was a loud explosion heard at the pipeline section near Long Kawa.

"I am not sure yet what was the cause. Petronas technicians are on the way there to find out the latest situation.

"A senior Petronas officer told me this morning that there are no injuries," he said

The Star learnt that the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department have also deployed a team to the site.

This latest case is the fourth such explosion/fire incident along the Sarawak side of the trans-boundary pipeline.

On May 8 last year, a fire occurred at the pipeline near the remote Long Segemang village in Lawas district in north Sarawak.

The fire did not result in an explosion or injuries to anyone.

Long Lawa and Long Segemang are among the many villages where the gas pipeline snakes through, from its starting point in Kimanis, Sabah to Bintulu, Sarawak.

On Jan 10,2018, there was another explosion along the section of the giant pipeline near the Long Luping settlement, adjacent to the Sarawak-Sabah border.

After Long Luping, there are populated settlements of Long Semadoh and Long Sukang and then the Lawas hinterland where the pipe connects to Baram on the way to Miri and Bintulu.

The pipeline is to channel gas from Kimanis in interior Sabah to Bintulu port in northern Sarawak for processing and export.

The entire length of the pipeline snaking through the rural frontiers is 600km long.

The first explosion was on June 11,2014, in the hills of Lawas district when a leak happened at a section of the pipeline.

No one was injured in that 2014 explosion......from thestar.

Sabah-Sarawak gas pipeline exploded, situation under control: official

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - There was an explosion on Sunday on the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline in East Malaysia but the situation is now under control, a fire and rescue department official said on Monday.

The explosion is still under investigation. Due to communication problems and the remoteness (of the site), our team was late in relaying information to our system. But Petronas’ ERT (emergency response team) brought the explosion and a small fire under control,” Sarawak state department director Khirudin Drahman told Reuters.

State-owned energy company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) operates the 500-kilometre-long pipeline. The explosion occurred in the northern district of Marudi.

Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is not clear if Petronas halted operations of the pipeline, which carries gas from the Kebabangan gas field in Sabah state to Bintulu in Sarawak where Petronas operates one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities.....from reuters

Explosion occurs at Petronas-operated Sabah-Sarawak gas pipeline

An explosion occurred at a portion of the Sabah-Sarawak interstate gas pipeline in Sabah, Malaysia.

A fire and rescue department official said that the situation is now under control, reported Reuters.

The 500km pipeline is operated by state-owned energy company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

The news agency quoted Sarawak state department director Khirudin Drahman as saying: “The explosion is still under investigation. Due to communication problems and the remoteness (of the site), our team was late in relaying information to our system.

“But Petronas’ ERT (emergency response team) brought the explosion and a small fire under control.”

The pipeline transports gas from the Kebabangan gas field in Sabah state to Bintulu in Sarawak, where Petronas operates one of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities in the world.

Meanwhile, Malaysian state Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg has promised to legally get the region’s oil and gas back from Petronas.

He said that this addition of oil and gas was part of the then-state Barisan Nasional’s 2016 manifesto.

Datuk noted that the state government has amended and revised the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 (OMO 1958), which gives the regulatory power over oil and gas to the state, reported Malay Mail.

In an interview with the local media, news agency Malay Mail quoted Datuk as saying: “Of course, there are some parties who may not agree, but we will pursue because we believe in the supremacy of our law, particularly our federal and state constitutions.

The chief minister also stressed: “And as you know, based on the provision of the federal and state constitutions, the state government has imposed our sales tax on oil and gas or petroleum products within Sarawak.”...from hydrocarbon-technology

My Opinion:

Along the whole stretch of laid pipes in the wild forest, mountain, rivers passing through swamp and various villages like the Kelabit, Penan and Kayan, the infrastructure are really unsecured.  Pipes are supposed to be buried deeply and only exposed the receiver barrels for maintenance. Must be buried when inspection is done and complied to highest standard. When they are buried, who knows the quality of the welded connection after inspection deep or shallow. Do the rural resident or the government really concern about where is the EIA reports? All incidents were near miss type where no lives were loss besides gardens and fruit trees. 

Oneday, there will be!

One of the common issue impacting the business is that, the locals demanded excessive compensation not once off but almost for whole life of the pipe existence. Despite of various benefit such as receiving CSR they demand many peculiar demand like rental.   They also demand so much from the contractor of the day such as salary for their residents as if they work!. Social problem become a rising issue among the villages. They split into groups of pro and con. Politician and NGO take a huge benefit from this issue that replicate to other villages. They want development  but the development turns up unfocus because of the influences from  members of the local NGO and politicians.

I won't be  surprised when the Petronas authorities scrap the whole pipelines infrastructure in near future and just use floating processing facilities such as FLNG that anchored miles offshore. Thats very possible and cost effective. "Who have the last laugh, laugh last"