Petronas Gas Pipeline Ruptures, Catches Fire

Malaysian oil company Petronas has confirmed that its Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline ruptured and caught fire again outside of Miri, Sarawak on Sunday. The blaze has been brought under control, the company said in a statement. 

“The explosion is still under investigation. Due to communication problems and the remoteness . . . our team was late in relaying information to our system. But Petronas’ [first responders] brought the explosion and a small fire under control,” a Petronas spokesman told Reuters.

Within minutes of detecting falling pressure in the line, workers with Petronas valved off the affected segment. All three of the parallel pipelines in the SSGP were fully valved off in the area within one hour of the breach, the local police chief said. 

It is the fourth pipeline failure along the SSGP, according to Selangor member of parliament and works minister Baru Bian, and the repeated incidents have raised concerns among nearby residents about the pipeline system's safety. 

The Sabah-Sarawak Pipeline carries gas produced by fields off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah province to a Petronas-operated LNG terminal in Bintulu, Sarawak.