FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION (FAQ)

1. I heard that PETRONAS requires a company with huge paid up capital to be eligible for license? Is it true?

No. There are 2 categories of application, either License or Registration. For License, RM100,000 paid up is required while only RM10,000 for Registration. If you own a RM2-company, please increase the paid up capital and we can help to proceed with the application.

2. What is the difference between License & Registration?

A company with a valid license is allowed to supply goods/services to both upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry in Malaysia. However, vendors under Registration are only allowed to supply to the downstream sector, serving PETRONAS subsidiaries only.

3. Are both enterprise and sendirian berhad can apply?

Only sendirian berhad (privately limited) or berhad (publicly limited) can apply for the license or registration, enterprise is not allowed.

4. Most of the shareholders and directors are non-bumiputera, are we allowed to register?

There are composition of bumiputera within a company should be complied by a company for 4 levels, in order to qualify for SWEC application.

1. Equity
2. Board of Directors
3. Management
4. Employees

However, there are SWEC with no Bumiputera requirements and for SWEC with 100% Bumi requirement, company must comply:

1. Equity 100%
2. Board of Directors 75%
3. Management 75%
4. Employees 51%

Please refer to PETRONAS License General Guidelines for more details.

5. I have no idea on what kind of vendor type because I am confused with the vendor category stated in the SWEC list.

There are different Mode of Operation (MOO) indicators between products and services. However, there’s no need to remember all of them, just make sure all requests for any job are successfully delivered. Meanwhile, the indicators are best to be explained as per below table.

6. What if I have foreign involvement in my company?

There are THREE (3) types of international collaboration usually happen

6.1.    Becoming a local agent. Your company might be appointed by an international company to become their agent in Malaysia. Your company must obtain an appointment letter from the foreign company and get the license approval. No way for the foreign company to get approval.

6.2.    Joint Venture (JV) with foreign company. The composition of Bumi must be complied by the local company and get the license or registration approval.

6.3.    Becoming a local branch. Similar to other collaborations, the formation of the equity ownership must be majority of Bumiputera.

7. I’ve registered or licensed and the license is about to expire? What to do?

Your company should apply for license renewal within FOUR (4) months prior to the expiry date. Once the license expires, your company may not be invited to any tender exercise. Do it earlier because the evaluation will go through the same process and make sure your company secretary has updated the latest document to SSM such as the audited report, latest shareholder equity, board of directors etc.

8. I have few companies and can them all be licensed? 

Yes, but each company must obtain different SWEC codes.

9. How many SWEC can we apply for?

There’s no limitation but companies are advised to select the ones relevant to their core business, this is important to manage vendor performance rating.

⚠️ Reference

1. FAQ for PETRONAS Licensed Registered Vendorv2
2. GENERAL GUIDELINES – PETRONAS License Registration Applications
3. petronas.com