PTTEP makes oil and gas discovery offshore Malaysia

Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) has made a new oil and gas discovery in the Sirung-1 wildcat exploration well offshore Sarawak, Malaysia.

The well is in the SK405B production sharing contract (PSC), in the shallow waters of Balingian Province, some 237 kilometres off the coast of Miri, the administrative centre of the Sarawak region.

Malaysian oil company Petronas, PTTEP’s partner in the block, said on Tuesday that the Sirung-1 exploration well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 2,538 metres in February 2021.

According to the company, it is a discovery with a ”significant oil and gas column” – exceeding 100 metres within the Oligocene to Middle Miocene sandstone reservoirs. This, Petronas claimed, further validated the potential of Balingian Province, with remaining prospects yet to be explored.

PTTEP Sarawak Oil as the operator holds a 59.5 per cent stake in the block SK405B while MOECO Oil and Petronas Carigali, a subsidiary of Petronas, hold 25.5 and 15 per cent, respectively. The PSC was signed in November 2017 as a result of the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2015. 

Petronas VP of exploration and upstream Emeliana Rice-Oxley said: “The Sirung-1 discovery further proves the presence of oil, especially in the under-explored deeper play within the Balingian Province. This came after similar success in an infill well at D18 Field.

“We are well-positioned to pursue a similar play in the other two neighbouring blocks in the same province, namely Blocks SK411 and SK306. As such, developing this block and other surrounding areas remains an integral part of Petronas and our partners’ long-term growth plans.

“We are very encouraged by the continued success with our partners on the consecutive discoveries this year in Malaysia and remain optimistic in our exploration activities for 2021”.

Both PTTEP and Petronas have been successful in recent months with several discoveries and project developments. In February, the duo, along with KUFPEC, made a gas discovery from the Lang Lebah-2 appraisal well while PTTEP confirmed the start-up of natural gas production from the Rotan and Buluh fields off Malaysia.

Near the end of last month, PTTEP and Petronas made a gas discovery from Dokong-1 wildcat exploration well in Block SK417 off Malaysia and Petronas made an oil discovery at the Hidayah-1 exploration well offshore Indonesia.

Earlier this month, Petronas launched a new bid round (MBR 2021) with 13 new blocks on offer in the prolific basins of Malaysia. This initiative is part of the company’s continuous efforts to grow with its partners in Malaysia.