Petronas set to keep exploration activity high in Malaysia

This is also the most number of active contracts Petronas has held at any one time.

The latest PSC, Petronas’ 151^st since the PSC system was introduced in 1976, has somewhat unusually been awarded for exploration in the busy Straits of Malacca, the first exploration acreage in the major shipping channel to have been awarded by Petronas since 1992 and with only six wells having been drilled there so far.

UK-based new upstream player in the Malaysian market Salamander Energy Malaysia will operate the block with an 85% equity stake, with Petronas Carigali taking remaining 15%.

They will drill one exploration well in the Block PM323 to a minimum depth of 1,400 m and to acquire and process 600 sq km of new 3D seismic data. The minimum financial commitment for the block is $18m.

“Considering Malaysia’s ‘matured’ basins, reaching 100 active PSCs is testimony to the country’s successful petroleum resource management as it demonstrates our ability to garner continued interest from oil and gas players,” said Petronas vice president of petroleum management Ramlan Abdul Malek in a statement.

The company has a planned capex of MYR300bn ($92.7bn) over a five-year period from 2011 to 2015. Local offshore services players have already benefitted from the renewed exploration activity.

For example, Petronas just last month, under the Pan Malaysia Integrated Hook-Up & Commissioning and Topside Major Maintenance Contract, awarded a 13-package, five-year offshore hook-up, commissioning and maintenance services contract worth MYR10bn to six local companies, Kencana HL, Dayang Enterprise, Petra Resources, PBJV, Carimin Engineering Services and Sigur Ros.