Eni and Petronas launch Searah, an independent joint venture in Southeast Asia

Eni and Petronas, Malaysia's

state-owned oil company, on Monday announced the official

establishment of Searah, a new 50/50 independent joint venture

bringing together key assets in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The announcement states that the new operator comes just seven

months after the signing of the investment agreement on November

3, 2025, and 16 months after the memorandum of understanding

announced in February 2025.

Searah combines complementary portfolios, expertise, and

regional experience with the goal, the statement continues, of

ensuring long-term value creation and operational excellence in

Indonesia and Malaysia.

With a portfolio of 19 gas production and development assets—14

in Indonesia and 5 in Malaysia—Searah will have initial

production of over 300,000 boe/d, with the goal of exceeding

500,000 boe/d of sustainable production within the next three

years.

All required regulatory, government, and partner approvals have

been obtained in both Malaysia and Indonesia, and all conditions

precedent have been satisfied.

"Searah reflects our consolidated satellite strategy, aimed at

creating focused, high-quality businesses that combine scale,

efficiency, and growth, driven by our excellence in exploration

and project execution, as well as our relentless focus on

technology and innovation," said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.

"Searah is a new, robust entity in Southeast Asia—the first and

largest of its kind in the region—combining our expertise with

Petronas' to support the development of energy resources in

Indonesia and Malaysia, with a strong commitment to

environmental protection and local growth," he added.

"The establishment of Searah is in line with Petronas' growing

focus on greater discipline in resource development, combined

with more agile capital deployment and a greater emphasis on

sustainable value creation across the entire gas value chain,"

added Tengku Muhammad Taufik, Chairman and CEO of Petronas.

"By leveraging the complementary portfolios and capabilities of

Petronas and Eni, Searah aims to match the operational depth,

financial resilience, and growth capacity of the two partners to

reliably and responsibly address the region's growing energy

needs," he continued, "while contributing to the long-term

security of supply in Indonesia and Malaysia."

A $6 billion revolving credit facility was successfully secured,

the statement reads, "a testament to the strong confidence of

financial markets in financing Searah's growth plans, which

envisage investments of over $20 billion over the next five

years.

These investments will support the development of over 3 billion

barrels of oil equivalent (bbl) of discovered resources and

enable the realisation of an additional exploration potential of

several billion boe."

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