Petronas, the state-run oil and gas company in Malaysia, will open two research and development centers in Korea early next year, an official from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said on Tuesday.

“Petronas has an interest in creating partnerships with Korean companies and academies in offshore-related business and its delegation visited Korea today to see local governments to decide where to house its first R&D center in Korea,’’ the official said.

The Malaysian oil company also has a plan to open the second R&D center at Korea Maritime University in Busan for technology development projects in its offshore business.

Petronas, ranked 68th in Fortune’s 500 largest companies in the world by revenue this year, has looked to Korea as its future business partner in a bid to decrease its technology dependency on the U.S. and EU.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)