PETALING JAYA: US oil and gas producer ConocoPhillips is augmenting its operations in Malaysia with a new oil development off the coast of Sarawak.
A report on industry news portal upstreamonline.com, quoting sources, said ConocoPhillips is already preparing to meet providers of leased floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessels at its Salam-Patawali oil discoveries.
The market sources, based in Kuala Lumpur, said the US operator will be seeking an Aframax-size floater.
Malaysia’s leading FPSO contractors Bumi Armada, MISC and Yinson Holdings are said to have expressed an interest in this project, along with one or two other smaller regional players.
The report said ConocoPhillips is said to favour a multi-year lease option for the floater, and will also require operations and maintenance services.
The sources expect tendering activity for the FPSO to begin soon based on a build-up of project momentum.
Previous estimates have shown that the FPSO has a capacity of 30,000 to 55,000 barrels per day of oil and a storage requirement of up to 600,000 barrels.
The floater is said to be also equipped to handle more than 100 million cubic feet per day of gas.
According to upstreamonline.com, the market sources also reported that ConocoPhillips had recently awarded an engineering services contract to Genesis, with an emphasis on the subsea aspect of its current and future activities in Malaysia.
CononoPhillips had yet to respond to inquiries from the news site at the time of publishing.
The company has another exploration permit offshore Malaysia called SB405, which lies in Sabah waters. It was awarded in February 2021. The acquisition of 3D seismic is planned for 2022.
ConocoPhillips has non-operated interests in four producing assets offshore Malaysia — the Gumusut field, the Malikai field, the Kebabangan field and the Siakap North-Petai project.
It generated net production in 2021 of 35,000 bpd of oil and 66 MMcfd of gas.