Malaysian cluster win marks first operated asset for Seascape

Seascape Energy Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southeast Asia-focused E&P company Seascape Energy, has been awarded the operatorship of a small field asset production sharing contract (SFA PSC) offshore peninsular Malaysia by the state-owned energy giant Petronas.

The award of a 100% participating interest as operator of the Temaris cluster was made under the Malaysia Bid Round 2025 (MBR 2025) organized by Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), Petronas’ subsidiary, and the country’s oil and gas industry regulator.

MPM launched the country’s new licensing round, MBR 2025, in February 2025, under the theme ‘Advancing Progress with Advantaged Energy.’

Being the first Seascape-operated development, the award is said to represent a material step forward for the company in expanding the scale and scope of its business, further building on its success in Malaysia and delivering on its ambition to materially expand its portfolio in 2025.

Senior Vice President of MPM, Bacho Pilong, noted: “PETRONAS is actively pursuing the development of Peninsular Malaysia’s hydrocarbon resources. With an expected output of approximately 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscfd) and first production targeted by 2029, the Temaris Cluster SFA PSC marks another milestone in our continuous efforts to support the nation’s energy security while driving sustainable growth in the industry.”

Covering an area of 1,200 square kilometers, the Temaris cluster is located in shallow water at a depth of around 70 meters and comprises two gas discoveries: Tembakau and Mengkuang.

Lundin Malaysia B.V. (now International Petroleum Corporation) discovered the main discovery, Tembakau, in 2012, with appraisal following in 2014. The smaller Mengkuang discovery was made in 2015.

Nick Ingrassia, CEO of Seascape, commented: “The Temaris award marks yet another pivotal moment in Seascape’s growth, becoming operator and 100% owner of a material gas development in Malaysia and delivering on our promise to expand our portfolio materially during 2025 through low-cost, high-value ground floor opportunities.“

Tembakau is located near existing infrastructure, with the closest producing gas field being 47 kilometers away. An extensive dataset including full 3D seismic coverage, well logs, DSTs, and extensive well core has been produced for the field.

Temaris’ three main stacked reservoirs comprise Early-Mid Miocene channel sandstones, which are clearly imaged on 3D seismic and which exhibit a strong amplitude response, Seascape notes. Reportedly having excellent reservoir properties, the field contains dry gas with very low levels of impurities and has been tested at substantial flow rates. 

Mengkuang is located 30 kilometers northeast of Tembakau in high-quality Miocene sandstones, which Seascape says also demonstrate strong amplitude responses. A good dataset has been produced for this field as well, but this was not tested at the time of discovery.

The continuation of the Tembakau and Mengkuang channel sandstone reservoirs across the Temaris PSC is also believed to represent a significant exploration upside. Seascape says it has been using high-end geophysical techniques to identify these channelized targets and is confident that additional exploration potential will be matured both within the PSC and across neighboring open acreage.

“The Temaris Cluster not only contains two, high-quality gas fields with excellent reservoir characteristics, but also benefits from significant exploration upside both in the Award itself and the surrounding open acreage. These volumes can be rapidly monetised with a low-cost approach to deliver much needed gas to Peninsular Malaysia and continuing supporting strong economic growth forecasts,” said Ingrassia.

Previous public disclosures indicated that the existing discoveries on the Temaris cluster could contain over 250 billion cubic feet (bcf), or approximately 42 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), of recoverable resources. This is interpreted as crucial to boost gas supply to Peninsular Malaysia, which is predicted to experience a shortfall in the next few years. 

Given the shallow water depths and nearby infrastructure, Seascape is targeting a low-cost development plan utilizing a normally unmanned platform with minimal processing, which could support a potential gross production plateau of up to 100 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

The key terms of the award are to deliver a field development and abandonment plan (FDAP) within 18 months, paired with certain specialised subsurface studies and 3D seismic reprocessing. Seascape intends to meet the approximately $2 million financial commitment under the award through its existing cash resources.

Sproule-ERCE has been commissioned to undertake a competent person’s report (CPR) to provide an independent assessment of the contingent and prospective resources covering the Temaris cluster and DEWA complex cluster previously won by Seascape. The report is expected to be completed in the next few months.

“Temaris, together with our DEWA Complex development and significant exploration upside in 2A (Kertang) in Sarawak, positions Seascape as a material Malaysian player holding a high-quality asset portfolio with production potential in excess of 20,000 boepd over the coming years,” noted Seascape CEO.

Similar to the DEWA complex cluster development asset, awarded to Seascape in October 2024, the Temaris cluster development falls under the small field asset (SFA) terms. This is specifically designed to simplify and incentivize the rapid development of smaller hydrocarbon accumulations in Malaysia and provide enhanced field economics compared to traditional PSCs.

As part of the strategic move to expand Peninsular Malaysia’s hydrocarbon resources, Petronas also signed two technical evaluation agreements (TEAs). One was inked with AFED TEXCAL Energy Ventures for the Langkasuka basin in the Straits of Malacca and the other with POSCO International for the Layang-Layang Basin off the coast of Sabah.