Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) honoured with two accolades at Asian Oil & Gas Awards 2024

The oil and gas company earned the digital transformation initiative award for its UP+ Revolution, and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) accolade for its Upstream GHGs Digital Platform.

PETRONAS scored two wins at the Asian Oil & Gas Awards 2024, bagging the titles in the Digital Transformation Initiative of the Year - Malaysia and ESG Initiative of the Year - Malaysia categories.

Addressing complexity

With the fast-paced environment of PETRONAS Upstream where leaders constantly adapt to a complex system filled with various applications, they often find it difficult to access important business and operational information. This leads to delays and potentially poor decision-making, but PETRONAS Upstream resolved this with the launch of the UP platform (mobile and web) in 2018. 

The platform was created to centralise and display the status of operations for its leaders. The upgraded version called UP+ was introduced in 2023 with the aim of improving usability for the leadership team. With this improvement, UP+ exemplifies PETRONAS Upstream's dedication to operational excellence and effective leadership.

UP+ acts as a comprehensive application that combines data from ten different sources, including daily production statistics, health and safety incident alerts, and drilling activity updates. Future enhancements will expand its capabilities to include emissions data and project information.

Meanwhile, the UP+ Lite mobile app keeps leaders updated with the latest alerts, whilst UP+ Vision (Web) offers deeper insights into operations. Its Microservices Architecture allows easy scaling. Moreover, the integration of AI/ML technologies helps simplify complex technical information. Being more than just a tool; UP+ provides leaders with vital operational data, empowering them to make informed decisions and engage in strategic discussions from anywhere.

Amongst the standout features of UP+ Vision is its geo-location context, which gives leaders unique insights into operations. With UP+ Lite, critical operational data is just a tap away, enabling leaders to engage in discussions that enhance performance across all areas of upstream operations.

Focussing on health, safety, and environment (HSE), UP+ offers near real-time notifications and daily updates as well, ensuring the leadership team is well-informed about facility and drilling rig operations. This is essential for quickly addressing operational challenges.

With UP+ at their disposal, leaders can effectively manage daily disruptions and make prompt decisions that influence the future of PETRONAS Upstream. PETRONAS Upstream's experience with UP+ demonstrates how technology can revolutionise leadership and operational management. As UP+ continues to develop, it remains a symbol of progress.

Transformative approach to upstream operations

With its ambitious goal of achieving Net Zero Carbon and Emission (NZCE) by 2050, PETRONAS developed the Upstream Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Digital Platform—an advanced solution designed to effectively manage greenhouse gas emissions.

The platform addresses the challenges in GHG data management including the tedious nature of manual data entry; the confusion caused by non-standardised templates; and issues with data quality—all of which have historically resulted in inefficient workflows and inadequate reporting.

These challenges were resolved with the use of GHGs Digital Platform’s key features such as the user-friendly project input interface, project dashboard, and streamlined workflow system. These tools enable users to navigate the complexities of production and emissions reporting with ease. Built to comply with the rigorous requirements of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, the platform meticulously tracks 11 newly identified methane sources.

Its integration with PETRONAS' Upstream data sources—across both Malaysia and international assets—facilitates automated calculations using the American Petroleum Institute (API) methodology, ensuring precise and auditable emissions reporting.

Furthermore, the platform offers comprehensive project details, highlights GHG reduction initiatives, and enhances emission planning and forecasting with its advanced capabilities. Its comparison tool promotes transparent GHG disclosures, and the overall development of the Upstream Digital Platform is focussed on improving GHG monitoring and reporting. It tracks decarbonisation projects, quantifies methane emissions, and aligns with strategic goals such as the Pledge for Result (P4R), Work Programme Budget (WPB), and Global Portfolio Valuation (GPV) to meet the GHG equity emission target by 2030.

Additionally, the platform features a Methane Dashboard to monitor new methane sources and integrates with the PETRONAS Upstream Data Platform for streamlined data management. It emphasises a strong user interface and experience (UI/UX) design. 

The Upstream GHGs Digital Platform represents a significant advancement in PETRONAS' decarbonisation journey. By leveraging digital innovation, the platform not only simplifies GHG emissions management but also embodies the organisation’s commitment to environmental stewardship and its strategic vision for a sustainable future.

The Asian Oil and Gas Awards recognises the most outstanding players in Asia's oil and gas sector. The awards programme is for companies that have risen above various challenges and remained steadfast despite a very challenging environment. It further honours those with successful strategies and initiatives in adapting to the new reality, and those that pushes for digital transformation and has risen above the hurdles.

The Asian Oil & Gas Awards is presented by Asian Power Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions and initiatives in the oil and gas sector in Asia, please contact Danica Avila at [email protected].