 Large reserves of natural gas were discovered off the coast of <unk> in 1969 . Following this , a feasibility study was done in 1975 , and <unk> <unk> was found to be a suitable site for a deep @-@ water port . On 14 June 1978 , Malaysia <unk> <unk> <unk> ( <unk> <unk> ) was established by <unk> , a Malaysian national oil and gas company for <unk> Natural Gas ( <unk> ) processing at <unk> . On 8 July 1978 , the <unk> Development Authority ( <unk> ) was established by the <unk> state government for infrastructure development and to promote industrial investment in the area . On 15 August 1981 , the <unk> Port Authority was established at <unk> <unk> , starting operation on 1 January 1983 . Since the establishment of <unk> Corridor of <unk> Energy ( <unk> ) in 2008 , <unk> become the gateway to <unk> Industrial Park , which is located 62 kilometres ( 39 mi ) away from <unk> . The industrial park is a centre of heavy , energy @-@ intensive industry . Among the companies that started their operations in the industrial park are <unk> Malaysia <unk> <unk> , Press Metal <unk> <unk> <unk> , and <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> . 
