BC Petroleum Gets Nods to Develop Bentara Oil Field Offshore Sarawak

May 4, 2014

Rigzone, dateline 2014-03-26:

Roc Oil Company Limited (ROC), announced Tuesday that BC Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BCP) the 48 percent owned company incorporated to operate and manage the Balai Cluster Risk Service Contract (RSC), has received approval of the FDP (field development plan) from Petronas for the initial phase in the development of the Bentara Oil Field within the Balai Cluster offshore Sarawak, Malaysia.

Commenting on the FDP approval ROC’s CEO Alan Linn said: “Approval for the initial phase of the Bentara oil development is a direct outcome of the risk managed and staged pre development approach implemented by BCP to appraise and accelerate oil production from the Balai Cluster. In the process, we have also identified additional potential within the cluster area and will be proposing further study and appraisal activity in support of the next stage of potential development from Bentara and associated fields”.


Malaysia’s upstream O&G sector capex to near US$60b over 5 years, says Najib

May 3, 2014

Show us the money!

Malay Mail, dateline 2014-03-25:

The capital expenditure in Malaysia’s oil and gas sector’s upstream business is forecast to near US$60 billion (about RM198 billion) over the next five years, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

He said the amount contributed significantly to the total upstream spending in South East Asia, which was expected to receive one-fifth of the global upstream spending in the next decade.

“While global upstream spending in the oil and gas sector is expected to remain set at around US$700 billion (about RM2.31 trillion) over the next decade, close to 20 per cent of this spending will be here in South East Asia,” said Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, at the opening of the inaugural Offshore Technology Conference Asia 2014.


Rapid investment may top US$50b

May 2, 2014

NST, dateline 2014-03-24:

Mida confident that investment outlook on O&G sector will remain positive.

INVESTMENTS at the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor, could top US$50 billion (RM165 billion) by 2020, 150 per cent more than the initial
target of US$20 billion.

Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) said Pengerang will serve as catalyst for development in areas such as refinery, petrochemicals, power, naptha cracker and regasification plants, as well as crude oil storage and liquefied natural gas storage tanks.


Labuan Chinese Chamber rejoices over revival of mega oil-gas project

May 1, 2014

Revival? When was the first attempt?

Daily Express, dateline 2014-03-25:

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCC) here has expressed support for the revival of the USD2 billion oil and gas investment on Pulau Daat, off Labuan.

Its President Datuk Wong Kii Yii said this was because the mega project would definitely boost the local economy.

He hoped this time the project would materialise as Labuan had been waiting for it for four years.

“Labuan also has had no significant big projects in recent years as everything went to Sabah,” he said, Monday.

He said the proposed investment would complement Malaysia’s existing oil and gas industry in Miri, Terengganu, Bintulu and Labuan.

A substantial part of Malaysia’s vision of becoming a regional major player in oil and gas will be materialised when Johor’s Rapid and Pulau Kuraman and other proposals come on stream.

 


Oil and gas sector remains rising star

April 29, 2014

Dateline 2014-03-24, Malaysia Chronicle:

TWO weeks ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the oil and gas industry is a rising star and is expected to contribute significantly to Malaysia’s economic growth this year.

This should perhaps ease earlier concerns that Malaysia will become a net importer of oil and gas by the end of this year.

Indeed, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has been aggressively exploring its domestic hydrocarbon acreage with the aim to increase reserves as well as production capacity. At the same time, the national oil company continues to explore opportunities abroad, having its presence in about 30 countries.

Last year’s financial results highlighted Petronas’ success in carrying out its strategy to sustain profitability and increase production.


Crunch time for Petronas

April 27, 2014

Dateline 2014-04-28, The Star:

PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas), facing dwindling production at home, is in a race against time to scour for new oilfields beyond Malaysia’s shores.

But with depleting hydrocarbons on the homefront, where oil has been extracted for well over a century, and stiff competition abroad, how will Petronas fare in the new age of energy?

For Datuk Wee Yiaw Hin, the oil giant’s executive vice-president of exploration and production, this is exactly what Petronas has been planning for.

 


Malaysia’s SapuraKencana signs $5 bln refinancing to help fund acquisitions

April 26, 2014

I was wondering where they got their money from. If you are short, I have a mate introduced by Lat at Batu Road if you want a tenner quick.

Dateline 2014-03-20, Reuters:

Malaysian oilfield service provider SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd said on Thursday it has signed a $5 billion refinancing deal with 13 banks to partly fund two of its most recent acquisitions.

The company bought Seadrill Ltd’s tender rig business in 2012 and the entire equity stake of Newfield Exploration Co’s Malaysian oil and gas assets last year.

The refinancing was also done to replace and streamline its existing borrowing facilities, SapuraKencana said in a statement.

The deal, of which 70 percent is in U.S. dollars, constitutes a senior multi-currency term and revolving facilities with short and long-term tenures of up to seven years, according to the company.

 


Hungry for more, Part 3

April 24, 2014

Links to Parts 1 and 2 can be found in the main article.

Dateline 2014-03-19, Energy Global:

Sabah crisis sharpens focus on regional territorial disputes over oil and gas reserves

Following last year’s invasion of Malaysia’s Sabah state by a Filipino militia group, another quiet corner of the world risks being sucked into renewed territorial and ethnic disputes fuelled by a growing regional race for oil and gas reserves.

The Malaysian government responded by ordering its military to bomb the group of more than 200 members of the self-proclaimed ‘Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate’ who briefly holed up in a village near the port of Lahad Datu. At least 70 people, including nine Malaysian security personnel, were killed in the conflict to expel the group linked to the descendants of a former royal family in southern Philippines with claims over Sabah state.

The conflict has the potential to grow as it involves groups with long-standing territorial claims, separatist ambitions and ethnic grievances now enmeshed with the US-led global war on terror, Sabah’s increasing importance as an oil and gas producer and the area’s 600 km proximity to the disputed hydrocarbon-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

 


Sabah should join S’wak on oil royalty hike: PBS

April 22, 2014

I really don’t know why Sabah and Sarawak have been in the news frequently this year. Any apologists who want to make a comment?

Dateline 2014-03-20, Daily Express:

Sabah should work together with neighbouring Sarawak in pursuing an increase in the oil and gas royalty and turn this into a reality, said Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Information Chief Datuk Jahid Jahim.

He believes there is nothing wrong for the State Government to work together with its Sarawak counterpart to make a joint request to the Federal Government to increase the rate of oil and gas royalty presently received by both states.

“I think we (Sabah and Sarawak) should work together like what we have done in 1963 when we formed the Federation of Malaysia together. It would be more synchronised and justified if both the states work together on this,” he said.

Saying an increase in oil and gas royalty can be used to support additional development of the State and the people to be on par with what is enjoyed by fellow Malaysians in the peninsula, Jahid, who is formerly Tamparuli Assemblyman, felt the recently announced discovery of oil fields off Sabah which is timely can also be considered as good justification for the request.


Shell Discovers Oil at Limbayong Field in Offshore Sabah

April 19, 2014

Dateline 2014-03-17, Rigzone:

Malaysia’s national oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) and Royal Dutch Shell plc announced Monday an oil discovery offshore Sabah, Malaysia.

The discovery was made via the Limbayong-2 well during the appraisal of the Limbayong gas field by Shell. The appraisal well encountered 446 feet (136 meters) of oil bearing sands, and there are plans to conduct more appraisal work on the discovery to determine its recoverable volume.

Petronas’ Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production Wee Yiaw Hin said: “We are indeed pleased with the discovery which affirms the hydrocarbon prospects of Malaysia’s deep water areas.”

Iain Lo, chairman of Shell Malaysia and managing director of Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd said: “This discovery attests to the significant potential in this area and is a positive development for exploration activities in East Malaysia.”

The drilling of the Limbayong-2 appraisal well was carried out by the consortium of Shell Malaysia (35 percent), ConocoPhillips (35 percent) and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (30 percent).