Moody’s lowers Petronas ratings

UOB Kay Hian Research analyst Kong Ho Meng said while there have not been any large tenders awarded by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), it expected contracts to be rolled out from next year. In Malaysia, he said, about 11% or about 35 of the over 300 platforms have been operating for over 40 years, and more than 200 wells have already been identified to be plugged and abandoned.

KUALA LUMPUR: Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) domestic issuer and foreign currency senior unsecured ratings to A2 from A1 as well as changed the outlook to “stable” from “negative”.

In a statement, the global rating agency said the national oil company’s credit metrics remain strong but the lower ratings were due its revised cross-sector methodology.