Italian energy major Eni SpA and Malaysia’s Petronas are set to jointly launch eight new upstream gas projects across Indonesia and Malaysia within the next three years through their newly established joint venture, NewCo, in what the companies describe as a key step toward strengthening regional energy security and accelerating gas development.

Eni chief executive officer Claudio Descalzi said the projects, split evenly between the two countries, would form the first phase of the venture’s operations, with additional exploration drilling planned to test new reserves.

“In the next three years, we are going to start eight new projects based on the existing reserves four in Indonesia, four in Malaysia,” Descalzi said in a recent interview as quoted by The Edge on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

“We are going to drill wells to test additional exploration reserves that we can further add value to this project,” he added.

Under the agreement signed earlier this year, NewCo a 50:50 joint venture between Eni and Petronas, will manage 19 upstream assets, including 14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia. Both companies have committed an initial investment of US$15 billion over the next five years to support the development program.

Descalzi said the formation of the joint venture would unlock significant untapped gas potential and allow both companies to share resources, infrastructure and financing.

“The JV structure enables us to pool resources and access external financing to accelerate project execution without straining balance sheets,” he cited.

According to Eni, NewCo will begin operations with a production capacity of more than 300,000 barrels per day and proven (P1) reserves of three billion barrels, with an additional 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent identified for future development.

“The US$15 billion is the first stage, it is based just on the P1 reserves,” Descalzi said.

The partnership builds upon major gas discoveries made by both companies in recent years, including more than 15 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of reserves in Indonesia and a combined 50 TCF of gas resources across Indonesia and Malaysia.

Descalzi said NewCo will integrate and expand the partners’ existing infrastructure including liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities such as Bontang LNG in East Kalimantan to reduce development costs and speed up commercialization.

“We will leverage existing infrastructure in both countries, enabling faster time-to-market and lower overall development cost,” he said.

The two Southeast Asian nations, he added, are strategically located to supply growing gas demand from regional markets such as China, Japan, India, Vietnam and South Korea, where natural gas is increasingly being adopted as a cleaner substitute for coal in power generation.

Descalzi said the initiative reflects both Eni’s and Petronas’ long-term commitment to advancing energy security and environmental sustainability across Asia.

“Southeast Asia offers a low-risk environment for upstream operations due to strong partnerships, established infrastructure and growing market demand. Our partnership with Petronas plays a dual role ensuring supply stability and promoting gas as a cleaner energy source,” Descalzi concluded.