KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) remains optimistic of strong potential in oil and gas and is making every effort to create conducive investment conditions.

President and group chief executive officer Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said the national oil company currently has 13 blocks on offer in the recently launched Malaysia Bid Round 2021.

He said the bid round incorporated innovative block offerings, flexible bidding options, a two-phased exploration period, as well as data access and transparency.

"With more than 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent yet to be discovered, Malaysia presents a sizable runway of potential reserves," he said in his keynote address at the 13th International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) held virtually today.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik said Petronas has announced its aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2050 last year, an aspiration that it strongly believed would keep the group on track to be "a progressive energy and solutions partner enriching lives for a sustainable future".

He said the national oil company is moving forward in its recovery pathways by making technology its differentiator, digitalisation its accelerator and data as its assets, and these elements would play an important role in providing the crucial insights to develop more streamlined, prudent and efficient operations.

To contend with growing energy demand, Tengku Muhammad Taufik said Petronas must now develop and deliver various forms of energy and technologies.

"Renewable energy alone will not be able to meet growing energy demand amidst growing populations and economic expansion, which we expect to see post-recovery, particularly in Asia. There is the problem of intermittency that needs to be resolved with advances in battery technology," he added.

Organised by Petronas and co-hosted by Mubadala Petroleum and Schlumberger, the virtual IPTC themed "Progressive Collaboration and Innovative Solutions: Shaping the Future of Energy" from today until April 1, gathers more than 3,000 energy professionals.

-- BERNAMA