TotalEnergies has agreed to buy a 30% operated interest in the Lang Lebah and B14 gas fields off Sarawak, Malaysia, the French energy group said on Monday, taking charge of a development it expects to unlock more than 6.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The deal gives a Western major the operator's seat on one of Malaysia's largest offshore gas discoveries, as demand for LNG in Asia grows. The fields are meant to feed the existing Malaysia LNG liquefaction plant, so the project bears directly on how much gas Malaysia can export to Asian buyers over the next decade.

TotalEnergies signed the agreements with three current owners: Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd., the upstream arm of Malaysia's state oil company; Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP); and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. (KUFPEC). The company did not disclose a price in its statement.

How the Lang Lebah and B14 stakes will be split

Once the transactions close, TotalEnergies will hold 30% of each field and act as operator. PTTEP and KUFPEC will each hold 25%, and Petronas Carigali will keep 20%, according to the TotalEnergies release. Completion depends on regulatory approvals, and the company gave no target date.

Lang Lebah sits in the SK410B block off the Sarawak coast, Rigzone reported. The partners plan to develop it together with the nearby B14 field as one integrated project. TotalEnergies put the combined resource at more than 6.5 trillion cubic feet, which it said equals more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Output is planned to reach a plateau of about 10 billion cubic meters a year. World Oil put that at roughly 970 million standard cubic feet a day. All of it is intended for Malaysia LNG, the export complex that turns Sarawak's offshore gas into cargoes for Asian buyers.

Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné said the fields would let the partners build "another large-scale gas hub in Malaysia," using shared infrastructure to serve growing LNG demand in Asia. He described the agreements as the next step in strengthening the group's integrated gas position in the country.

TotalEnergies widens its Malaysia gas footprint

The deal extends a run of Malaysian moves. TotalEnergies bought SapuraOMV in 2024 and expanded its partnership with Petronas in 2025, it said. After the SapuraOMV purchase it became Malaysia's third-largest gas producer, with operated and non-operated interests in several offshore blocks off Sarawak and Sabah. The company has been present in Malaysia since 1985.

The purchase also fits the group's broader push into gas. TotalEnergies aims to lift natural gas to nearly 50% of its sales mix by 2030 and expects the LNG volumes it manages, excluding Russian and spot volumes, to grow 50% between 2025 and 2030, Rigzone reported, citing the company. In the third quarter its LNG sales totaled 9.8 million metric tons.

The group is selling elsewhere as it buys in Asia. Last week it completed the sale of its 10% stake in Nigeria's Renaissance Joint Venture, formerly the SPDC JV, to Vaaris Resources JVCo Ltd. for $800 million, according to Rigzone. It kept its economic interest in three gas licenses there that supply about half of Nigeria LNG's feed gas.

Why Asian gas buyers will watch the Sarawak project

TotalEnergies framed the project as a response to rising LNG demand in Asia. Buyers in the region have been competing for supply this season, with utilities in China and Korea locking in winter cargoes. A new Sarawak gas hub would add feed gas to an export plant that already serves that market.

The ownership after closing leaves no single partner with a majority. TotalEnergies' 30% is the largest stake, and Petronas Carigali's 20% is the smallest, which puts the French group in the position of running the project with three partners holding the remaining 70%.

Large gas developments of this kind still need a final investment decision before construction begins, and TotalEnergies did not say when that would come. Its statement described the integrated development as planned rather than approved, and gave no start date for production.

The next steps to watch are the regulatory approvals needed to close the deal and any announcement of a final investment decision on the integrated Lang Lebah and B14 development.