Petronas tougher on costs, focuses more on downstream

FILE PHOTO : Petronas CEO Wan Zulkiflee speaks during an interview at their office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia August 15, 2017. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin/File Photo

KUALA LUMPUR: When Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin took over as CEO of national energy firm Petronas in April 2015, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil had tumbled to around US$55, half the level of the previous year.

Over the following months prices fell further, forcing Wan Zul, as he is better known, to lop US$12bil from costs and cut thousands of jobs for the first time at Petronas – a major contributor to Malaysia’s budget and one of the country’s biggest employers.