SOGIP and the SAMUR Plant in Sipitang
What are SOGIP and the SAMUR plant?
SOGIP, the Sipitang Oil & Gas Industrial Park, covers up to 5,539 acres of land and sea. Its anchor is the SAMUR plant run by PETRONAS Chemicals, a project of about RM4.6 billion that turns natural gas into ammonia and urea fertiliser. It was 98% complete in July 2016.
What is SOGIP?
SOGIP stands for the Sipitang Oil & Gas Industrial Park, managed by the Sabah Oil & Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC). It is a large, dedicated industrial park built to host downstream oil and gas industries — that is, businesses that take raw oil and gas and turn them into higher-value products such as fertilizers, chemicals and fuels.
Covering up to 5,539 acres of land and sea, SOGIP gives Sabah a base for adding value to the natural gas produced off its coast, instead of simply shipping that gas out in raw form. By clustering related industries together on one site, the area can share infrastructure such as gas supply, power and logistics.
The centrepiece of SOGIP is the SAMUR plant, but the area is designed to support a broader family of gas-related industries. This makes SOGIP one of the most strategically important industrial developments in the state, tying together Sabah's natural resources, its energy partners and its long-term economic ambitions.
Where it is and how it is supplied
SOGIP is located in the Sipitang district, in the southwest of Sabah. Siting the area here connects it to the infrastructure that moves the state's gas onshore and makes the gas available to industry.
Sabah had over 11.67 trillion cubic feet (Tscf) of natural gas reserves as of 2019, about 15% of Malaysia's, according to the state energy plan. Of the 6.8 Tscf identified off the West Coast for 2020 to 2040, 2.6 Tscf was uncommitted and available for new industries and power plants.
By piping offshore gas into Sipitang and processing it there, SOGIP keeps more of the value chain inside Sabah. Raw gas becomes fertilizer, chemicals and fuels — products worth far more than the gas alone — supporting local industry and jobs.
The SAMUR ammonia-urea plant
The anchor project at SOGIP is SAMUR, short for Sabah Ammonia Urea, operated by PETRONAS Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd. SOGDC puts the project cost at about RM4.6 billion (USD 1.5 billion). Borneo Post reported the plant 98% complete in July 2016.
Earlier versions of this page said SAMUR cost RM8.88 billion, was launched in February 2025 and was a partnership with Yayasan Sabah and Sarawak investors. We could not find any source for those claims and have corrected them.
What SAMUR produces and why
SAMUR makes two products: ammonia and urea. Urea is a nitrogen fertiliser used widely on farms and plantations.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operator | PETRONAS Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd |
| Ammonia capacity | About 740,000 tonnes a year (liquid) |
| Urea capacity | About 1.2 million tonnes a year (granulated) |
| Project cost | About RM4.6 billion (USD 1.5 billion) |
| Feedstock | Natural gas |
Other SOGIP industries
SOGDC lists these operations at SOGIP besides SAMUR:
- Esteel Enterprise Sabah — a green steel facility.
- PETRONAS FLNG 3 — described by SOGDC as Sabah's first LNG facility.
- PETRONAS Gas power plant — gas-fired power generation.
Economic significance
SOGIP and the SAMUR plant represent a deliberate strategy to industrialise Sabah's natural gas resources within the state. Rather than exporting raw gas, the area captures more of the value chain locally, turning gas into fertilizer, chemicals, fuels and electricity.
At about RM4.6 billion, SAMUR is one of the largest industrial investments in Sabah. SOGIP is where much of Sabah's gas-based industry is concentrated, in the southwest of the state.
Sources
- SOGDC: About SOGIP (name, area, operators, SAMUR cost and capacities)
- Borneo Post, 25 July 2016: SAMUR project 98% complete
- Energy Commission of Sabah: SE-RAMP 2040, p.15 (gas reserves)
Checked 27 September 2026.