Petronas Carigali is aiming to take a final investment decision (FID) on its Bestari deep-water oilfield development offshore Sabah in East Malaysia this year.
Bestari, part of the Block R production-sharing contract (PSC), is expected to be commercialised as a tie-back to Petronas’ deep-water Limbayong field to the south-west, which is now being developed.
Petronas chief executive upstream operations Adif Zulkifli said that after sanctioning the company’s first deep-water field – Limbayong – late last year, Petronas would like to follow up with Bestari in the second or third quarter this year.
Water depths at the 672 sq km Block R range from 100 to 1400 metres. Bestari was discovered by Japan’s JX Nippon in 2015.
Meanwhile, Shell is also preparing to give final approval for the development of its Rosmari-Marjoram sour gas fields in late 2021 or early 2022, added Zulkifli.
Shell is pushing ahead with the Rosmari-Marjoram and Timi projects in Block SK 318 offshore Sarawak in East Malaysia. Timi is a sweet gas discovery. Combined peak production from both the Shell-operated field developments is estimated at 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shell operates Block SK 318 on behalf of partner Petronas.
Malaysia needs to unlock sour gas fields to help maintain LNG exports, as many of the country’s easiest-to-exploit sweet gas fields have already been commercialised. Significant multi-trillion cubic feet discoveries continue to be made off Sarawak over the past decade, including Kasawari, B14, Rosmari-Marjoram, as well as Lang Lebah. But their commercialisation has been complicated by the presence of acid gas contaminants.