Italian energy major Eni and Malaysian state-owned PETRONAS have launched Searah, a new 50/50 independent joint venture, creating Southeast Asia’s leading independent integrated energy company.
The new entity combines the companies’ key businesses across Indonesia and Malaysia to deliver long-term value creation and operational synergies.
Searah enters the market as the largest entity of its kind in the region, boasting a portfolio of 19 gas-producing and development assets, 14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia.
It commences operations with an initial production base exceeding 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), with plans to ramp up sustainable production past 500,000 boe/d within three years.
To fuel this rapid growth, Searah has secured a US$6 billion (AU$9 billion) revolving credit facility. This financial backing forms part of a massive US$20 billion (AU$31 billion) pipeline of expected investments over the next five years, aimed at developing more than three billion boe of discovered resources.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi highlighted that Searah aligns with the company’s satellite strategy to build focused, high-quality businesses combining scale and efficiency.
“Searah is a strong new entity in Southeast Asia — the first and largest of its kind in the region — combining our expertise with that of PETRONAS to support the development of energy resources in Indonesia and Malaysia, with a strong commitment to environmental protection and local growth,” Descalzi said.
PETRONAS President and Group CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik added that the venture would deliver the operational depth and financial resilience needed to address the region’s growing energy needs reliably and responsibly.
“The establishment of Searah aligns with PETRONAS’ intensified focus on exercising greater discipline in developing resources coupled with more agile capital deployment as well as stronger emphasis on sustained value creation across the gas value chain,” Taufik said.
The launch follows recent final investment decisions for major gas fields in Indonesia, alongside Eni’s giant Geliga-1 gas discovery in the Kutei basin.
All regional staff from both companies have transitioned to the new joint venture, which will operate via an independent model designed to maximise logistics and technology synergies.
The establishment of Searah supports the deployment of capital and resources required to achieve a short-term production target of 500,000 boe/d equity, while advancing further development opportunities stemming from the success of the Geliga exploration well.
