The Tapis EOR project is Malaysia’s first large-scale enhanced oil recovery project and will use the immiscible water-alternating-gas process to recover remaining oil reserves from the Tapis field.
It does this by gradually sweeping remaining oil to the producing wells, increasing the overall recovery of the field, the group said on Friday.
"This project exemplifies ExxonMobil's leadership in technology application and global project execution excellence to maximise reserves recovery from producing fields in partnership with Petronas and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd,” said See Kok Yew, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc president and chairman of the ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia.
“This is a historic milestone for Malaysia as it is our country’s first large-scale, full-field offshore implementation of water-alternating-gas injection techniques to improve oil recovery, and in parallel, work is being done to rejuvenate existing facilities to extend the life of the Tapis field,” See said.
The Tapis EOR project is one of the largest offshore EOR projects in Southeast Asia, representing a RM8bil investment by ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) to help ensure reliable and sustainable energy supplies for Malaysia.
ExxonMobil and PCSB each hold a 50% participating interest in the project.
Fully designed and constructed in Malaysia by local contractors, fabrication activities for the Tapis EOR project began in November 2011.
The combined topsides and jacket, which were installed in May 2014, weigh about 23,500 metric tonnes, making it the heaviest platform constructed in Malaysia by the company.
To date, the Tapis EOR project has recorded about 24 million total work hours through the various phases without any lost-time injuries despite the scale and complexity of the project.