Petronas appoints new COO amid legal dispute over Sarawak gas assets
(Bloomberg) – Petroliam Nasional Bhd. appointed Mohd Jukris Abdul Wahab as its new chief operating officer, enhancing its senior leadership structure amid an ongoing legal dispute over gas assets in Sarawak.
The appointment will be effective Feb. 1, and Jukris will concurrently hold his position as chief executive officer of Petronas’ upstream business, the state-owned oil and gas company said in a statement on Monday.
The COO would support group Chief Executive Officer Tengku Muhammad Taufik in matters involving federal and state governments, The Edge reported, citing an internal note.
Petronas filed a motion with Malaysia’s apex court last week to decide on the company’s operations in Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state. Since 2024, it has been locked in a dispute over gas distribution rights there with state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Bhd.
See also: Petronas seeks court ruling amid Sarawak gas, LNG dispute
The company has also been struggling with declining profit amid an oil price slump, and last year announced it was cutting around 10% of its workforce.
The appointment of the new COO is in line with Petronas’ “transformation ambitions amid a dynamic global energy environment,” it said in Monday’s statement.
