Offshore staff
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Petronas and its petroleum arrangement contractors (PACs) achieved 10 hydrocarbon discoveries from 16 wells drilled offshore Malaysia this year.
The tally comprised eight oil and gas finds off Sarawak, and one each offshore Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia. The largest oil discovery was Nahara-1 in Block SK306 in Sarawak’s Balingian province.
Other discoveries were in Sarawak’s Central Luconia, Western Luconia and Baram provinces, which contain numerous gas fields.
Within Central Luconia, Shell delivered discoveries via the Inai-1 and Temu-1 wells in the MLNG Block, and Mubadala Energy proved more gas in Block SK320 with the Cengkih-1 well.
In the emerging Western Luconia province, ConocoPhillips drilled three exploration wells in Block WL4-00. Gagau-1 discovered gas at the Gagau-1 well while the Salam-3 and Benum-2 wells confirmed the extension of oil and gas accumulations in adjacent fault blocks.
In the mature Baram province, PTTEP made a further gas discovery in Block SK410B through the Paprika-1 well: the same block contains the giant Lang Lebah find from 2019.
In ultradeepwater Sabah, TotalEnergies’s Tepat-2 well confirmed oil and gas in Block N in the emerging Sabah Trough province, building on the Tepat-1 discovery from 2018.
Finally, Hess discovered a new gas reservoir at the Bergading Deep-4 well in Block PM302 in the North Malay Basin off Peninuslar Malaysia.
Firouz Asnan, Petronas’ senior vice president of Malaysia Petroleum Management Mohamed, said two more wells were currently drilling.
“Our 60% success ratio validates the prolific nature of the Malaysian basins," Asnan said. “Most of the discoveries can be quickly monetized at a lower cost given their proximity to the extensive network of existing infrastructure.”
Petronas’ senior general manager of Resource Exploration (MPM) Azmir Zamri added, “Our vast multiclient dataset covering emerging and frontier areas will continue to be the key in accelerating the time to drilling. Enabled by MPM’s long-term rig sequencing plan, our PACs are gearing up to drill as many as 30 exploration wells next year.”
There was also an increase in responses to the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2022. Signing of associated production sharing contracts are planned for February, followed by the launch of MBR 2023.
12.22.2022
