KUALA LUMPUR: National oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) is looking to expand its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply to international airlines, said executive vice-president of downstream Datuk Sazali Hamzah.

       In May this year, its subsidiary Petronas Dagangan Bhd signed an SAF offtake agreement with Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company of Malaysia Airlines, as part of efforts to develop the green fuel on a commercial scale in Malaysia.

       “(We are looking for) international airlines as well. SAF is not only for Malaysia but also Europe because they are willing to pay higher,” Sazali told Bernama on the sidelines of a recent media trip to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team headquarters in Brackley, England. However, he did not elaborate on the plan.

       Under the agreement with MAG, PETRONAS Dagangan will supply more than 230,000 tonnes of SAF to MAG’s airlines national carrier Malaysia Airlines, and Firefly and MASwings - with the first delivery expected from 2027 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

       During its annual general meeting in Istanbul in June, the International Air Transport Association announced its expectation for overall renewable fuel production to reach an estimated capacity of at least 69 billion litres (55 million tonnes) by 2028.