PETRONAS had divested assets and fully repatriated proceeds from two Azerbaijan units seized over a dispute between the Sulu sultanate and Malaysia, the national oil company said tonight. 

It confirmed that two of its subsidiaries in Azerbaijan had been served with a “saisie-arret” on July 11, which the Financial Times reported earlier today. 

“We confirm that our two subsidiaries mentioned in the report have been served with ‘saisie-arret’ on July 11, 2022,” Petronas said in a statement today. 

It said both subsidiaries, Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and Petronas South Caucasus had previously divested its entire assets in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the proceeds from the exercise have been duly repatriated.

The state-owned energy company further said that it views the actions taken against it as baseless and claimed to be working vigorously to defend its legal position on this matter.

Earlier today, the Financial Times reported that bailiffs in Luxembourg have seized two Petronas subsidiaries in Azerbaijan as part of an ongoing dispute between heirs of the Sulu sultanate and the government of Malaysia.  

According to the report, bailiffs took over the Luxembourg-registered offices of Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and Petronas South Caucasus – with estimated net worth of nearly RM9 billion – as part of an ongoing dispute between the heirs and the government.