Friday 1 February 2013

Helping Malaysia become a major deepwater player

Shell is about to plunge into its second deepwater project in Malaysia, having taken final investment decision (FID) to develop the Malikai oil field about 100 kilometres offshore Sabah, Borneo.

Located in waters up to 500 metres deep, Malikai is part of the Block G Production Sharing Contract awarded by national oil company PETRONAS in 1995 – one of many shelf blocks offshore Sabah.

"Malikai is an exciting oil development in our upstream portfolio and will cement Malaysia’s position as a regional deepwater hub and centre of excellence,” said Iain Lo, Malaysia Country Chair.

He praised the Malakai project team for their work in bringing about another milestone for Shell. “We still have a long journey ahead but I am confident that with the expertise and knowledge of our people and complemented by strong teamwork, we can deliver safely and as promised,” he said.

Developing a deepwater hub

The Malikai development will be Malaysia’s third deepwater project, and the second for Shell in the country after Gumusut-Kakap, which is expected to increase national oil production by as much as 20% once fully on-stream. It will introduce the first floating production system (FPS) to Malaysia, currently under completion.

Production at Gumusut got a head start when first oil was announced in November 2012. Thanks to some innovative thinking, two of the field’s wells were tied back to the Kikeh development operated by Sabah Murphy Oil.

“The deepwater environment is a challenging one, and we thank PETRONAS for their continued confidence in us,” said Iain Lo. “This further demonstrates how Shell's innovation, technology and project delivery is supporting PETRONAS's aspiration to develop Malaysia as a regional deepwater oil and gas hub.”