By SHARIDAN M. ALI
sharidan@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: The recent findings of new oil and gas fields by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) offshore Sarawak are expected to boost the country's reserves.
Petronas' total average production for oil and gas has been declining for the past two years to 1.63 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day in the financial year ended March 31, 2010 (FY10) from 1.67 million BOE per day in FY08.
The 1.63 million BOE per day comprised 535,000 BOE of crude oil, 974,000 BOE of natural gas and the rest condensates.
AmResearch said as Malaysia had 85 trillion cu ft of gas reserves with oil reserves at 5.8 billion barrels in FY10, the new discoveries accounted for 3% of the country's natural gas reserves and 2% of its oil reserves.
Petronas yesterday announced that it had found new major discoveries from two wells that had the potential of producing both oil and gas.
The NC3 wildcat well and its subsequent appraisal well in block SK316 have an estimated 2.6 trillion standard cu ft (tscf) of net gas in place; while the Spaoh-1 in block SK306, that was drilled in December 2010, has showed similar potential where preliminary evaluation has indicated about 100 million barrels of oil and 0.2 tscf of gas.
AmResearch also said four new production sharing contracts (PSCs) were awarded by the national oil company in FY10 bringing the total number of PSCs in operation currently to 75.
“Additionally, the completion of the Gumusut-Kakap floating production storage semi-submersible unit, Kebabangan offshore structures, Malikai tension leg platform and marginal field projects will also support stronger growth for Petronas in FY11,” the company said in a report.
Late last month, Petronas announced that it would award the Sepat and Berantai marginal oil field contracts soon, and planned to award two more marginal field cluster contracts by April.
Malaysia currently has 106 marginal oil fields containing 580 million barrels of oil and Petronas planned to develop 25% of the total marginal oil fields to replenish its oil reserves and generate new revenue streams.
A marginal oil field is defined as one that can produce 30 million barrels of oil equivalent or less.
AmResearch said Petronas' capital expenditure (capex) is expected to reach RM40bil in FY11, after falling by 16% year-on-year to RM37bil in FY10.
“The rising values for oil and gas contracts, re-energised domestic spending by Petronas, rampant liquidity against the backdrop of the Government's Economic Transformation Programme to create regional champions in providing oil field and equipment services underscore our continued excitement in the sector,” it said.
“The oil and gas up-cycle is still running full tilt with capex of up to RM10bil largely from enhanced oil recovery, marginal and deepwater fields over the next six months.”
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/15/business/8065644&sec=business
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