Petronas awards Block SB311 offshore Sabah contract

PETRONAS has awarded a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Block SB311 offshore Sabah to a partnership of ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd., Shell Energy Asia Limited and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd.

The block, measuring 1,046 square kilometres, is located in the central part of the Sabah Basin in water depths ranging from 50 to 100 metres. The area is located within a proven hydrocarbon fairway with key discoveries such as Kebabangan, Kinarut, and Erb West.

Under the terms of the PSC, ConocoPhillips will operate the block with a participating interest of 40 per cent. PETRONAS Carigali and Shell Energy Asia will each own a 30 per cent interest in the block.

For the SB311 PSC, the partners are committed to drill two wildcat wells, acquire 400 line km of new 2D seismic data and re-process existing 3D seismic data on the block.

The PSC was signed at the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. PETRONAS was represented by its Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production Business Dato’ Wee Yiaw Hin and ConocoPhillips by its President of ConocoPhillips Asia Pacific, Mr. Joseph P. Marushack.

The other two partners, Shell Energy Asia Pacific and PETRONAS Carigali were respectively represented by its Vice President Malaysia & Chairman Shell Malaysia, Mr. Iain Lo and PETRONAS Vice President & Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS Exploration, Encik Effendy Cheng Abdullah.


Issued by

Media Relations Department
Group Corporate Affairs Division
PETRONAS

Shell fokus teknologi alam, jimat tenaga

Syarikat minyak dan gas, Shell Malaysia, kini giat memfokuskan terhadap inovasi dan nilai tambah kepada rakan strategik dan pelanggannya, khususnya dalam menghasilkan produk yang bersih kepada alam sekitar dan penggunaan yang efisien.

Pengarah Urusan Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd. dan Shell Timur Sdn. Bhd., Azman Ismail berkata, syarikatnya percaya teknologi minyak dan minyak pelincir kekal sebagai kunci utama penawaran jenama Shell bagi memenuhi kepenggunaan dan keperluan tenaga.

Pihaknya menamakan fokus syarikatnya itu sebagai 'Smarter Mobility'.

Jelas Azman, inisiatif yang mahu dilaksanakan oleh Shell itu akan membantu sektor pengangkutan dan industri untuk menjimatkan penggunaan tenaga serta menjaga kebersihan alam sekitar.

"Produk seperti Shell Diesel dengan formula minyak ekonomi, manakala Shell Fuel Oil Plus merupakan produk yang menghasilkan kesan tenaga yang bersih dan penggunaanya lebih efisien," katanya dalam kenyataan itu.

Malaysia: Pengerang Terminal Ready for VLCCs

Dialog Group Bhd, the country’s second-biggest oil and gas services provider, said it has signed some customers for the RM1.9bil storage terminal, it is developing with Royal Vopak NV.

Talks with other potential customers were continuing, Dialog managing director Ngau Boon Keat said in an interview at Pengerang in Johor.

Dialog, Vopak and the Johor government are developing the site at Pengerang, with initial capacity of 1.3 million cu m, to meet rising demand for oil storage in Asia and as space in Singapore dwindles. The companies were betting on the terminal’s location to capture trade flow between China, India and Asia, Ngau said at the site.

“Our location is blessed with 24-m deep natural berth able to bring in very large crude carriers,” said Law Say Huat, chief executive officer of the venture developing the Pengerang terminal.

“We are offering an alternative to the crude oil traders, refiners, or the suppliers to be able to bring here to blend up, to break bulk or to make bulk.”

The tanks would be for clean products and crude oil and would begin operating from 2014, Ngau said.

Clean products include fuels such as gasoline, naphtha, diesel and kerosene. The company has no immediate plans to build fuel oil tanks.

“At the moment, there is quite a lot fuel oil storage,” Ngau said. “We’re more targeting crude oil storage.”

The project would help drive annual profit growth at Dialog by more than 20% in the next few years, Ngau said. Earnings would also be supported by ventures to provide services to oil and gas explorers, he said.

Petrochemical Industry Likely To See Moderate Growth Next Year

The petrochemical industry will likely see moderate growth next year with prices of products firming up.

President and CEO of Petronas Chemicals, Dr Abd Hapiz Abdullah said the outlook next year will also depend on how fast the economies of China, India and within the Asia Pacific region pick up.

The Asian region is where most of its products are exported to currently.

He said the European debt crisis this year has had a crippling impact on the Asian economies.

Nevertheless, opportunities are also there in new markets such as Myanmmar and Cambodia, he said during a media briefing here Tuesday.

-- BERNAMA

KNM forms O&G JV with HMS

KNM Group Bhd has signed a shareholders cum joint-venture agreement with HMS Oil and Gas Sdn Bhd to form KNM HMS Energy Sdn Bhd (KHE) to secure opportunities in the upstream oil and gas (O&G) sector in Malaysia.

KNM will hold a 70% stake in KHE with the balance 30% being held by HMS, KNM said in a Bursa Malaysia’s filing.

Petronas awards production sharing contract for Sabah block

Petronas has awarded a contract for a partnership including ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd and Shell Energy to extract natural gas from a block in Sabah.

A partnership comprised of the two firms and Petronas’s upstream unit will operate a block measuring 1,046-sq km located near key discoveries such as Kebabangan, Kinarut and Erb West, the company said today.

ConocoPhillips will operate and own 40 per cent of the block, while Shell Energy Asia Limited and Petronas Carigali will own 30 per cent each. Petronas gave no probable reserves or value of the contract.

Petronas, which concluded a US$5.3 billion (RM16 billion) takeover of Canada’s Progress Energy Resources Corp , has seen earnings fall as production declines due to natural field depletion and operational challenges.

Petronas made seven new oil discoveries and inked two production sharing contracts in Malaysia in the quarter ended September 30, when net profit fell more than 21 per cent to RM12.4 billion as production in Sudan remains on hold.

It has collaborated with partners such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Shell to derive more oil from marginal fields, in a bid to meet the government’s goal of attracting US$444 billion in investment by 2020. — Reuters

Petronas completes US$5.3bil takeover of Canada's Progress

CALGARY, Alberta: Malaysia's Petronas completed its C$5.2 billion ($5.3 billion) takeover of Progress Energy Resources Corp on Wednesday, a deal that was expected to have sailed through Canada's approval process but got ensnared in a heated national debate about foreign control of energy assets.

The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper approved the transaction on Friday, along with the $15.1 billion acquisition of Nexen Inc by China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd , following months of deliberation.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis initially rejected the takeover of Progress, a mid-size natural gas producer, in October, saying it would not have been a net benefit to Canada, but invited the Malaysian state oil company to resubmit its application.

On Friday, the Harper government also issued new guidelines for takeovers of Canadian energy businesses by foreign state-owned enterprises, restricting future bids for control over oil sands assets and suggesting the other energy deals will also be difficult.

Petronas and Progress have announced plans to build a liquefied natural gas export plant on Canada's West Coast that could cost up to C$11 billion.

Progress's chief executive said last week that a completed takeover could lead to a larger project because Petronas would have access to all of Progress's gas reserves, not just the ones that were part of the companies' previous joint venture.

Shares of Progress were up 1 Canadian cents at C$21.98 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a penny below Petronas's bid price. - Reuters

Medan minyak baru milik Terengganu

Kawasan medan minyak yang baru di Blok PM 307 Bertam di luar pantai Semenanjung antara Terengganu dan Pahang adalah milik Terengganu.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said berkata, kerajaan negeri telah menulis surat secara rasmi kepada Petronas untuk mendapatkan penjelasan mengenai penemuan minyak di blok berkenaan dan setakat ini jawapan rasmi masih belum diperoleh.

"Kita menerima surat dari syarikat Lundin Oil (syarikat carigali yang berpangkalan di Sweden) yang melaksanakan kerja-kerja carigali di kawasan berkenaan (dengan kerjasama Petronas Carigali) mengesahkan bahawa ia adalah di kawasan perairan Terengganu," katanya dipetik Bernama.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika menjawab soalan Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (Pas-Batu Buruk) yang ingin tahu status hak milik kerajaan Terengganu ke atas medan minyak berkenaan dan kedudukan terakhir tuntutan royalti minyak dari Petronas dan Kerajaan Pusat pada Persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri Terengganu, hari ini.

Pada 30 Oktober lalu, Menteri Besar Pahang, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob berkata, penemuan rizab minyak tambahan di medan minyak Bertam, di luar pesisiran pantai Semenanjung Malaysia bertentangan Pahang, bukan sekadar memberi manfaat kepada negeri ini, malah dikongsi manfaatnya oleh negeri-negeri lain. 

Adnan berkata, pengumuman Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak pada hari yang sama, 30 Oktober lalu bahawa Pahang dijangka menerima wang ihsan sekitar RM100 juta setahun, juga dilihat bakal memberi impak besar kepada ekonomi Pahang.

Perdana Menteri mengumumkan Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd dan Lundin Oil menemui rizab minyak tambahan di medan minyak Bertam, yang terletak di Blok PM 307.

Medan minyak itu terletak kira-kira 160 kilometer di luar pesisiran pantai Semenanjung Malaysia bertentangan Pahang, pada kedalaman air 76 meter.

Najib yang juga Menteri Kewangan berkata, negeri Pahang dijangka menerima wang ihsan sekitar RM100 juta setahun, bergantung kepada anggaran pengeluaran, apabila pengeluaran bermula pada suku ketiga tahun 2014.  

Dalam kenyataannya hari ini, Ahmad juga berkata, kerajaan negeri dimaklumkan bahawa keseluruhan bayaran tuntutan minyak dari kerajaan negeri bakal diterima dari Petronas melalui kerajaan pusat pada Mac 2013.
   
Katanya bayaran itu diberi setelah kedua-dua kerajaan persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri mencapai kata sepakat mengenai tuntutan itu.
   
Mengenai penarikan balik saman kerajaan negeri terhadap Petronas, Ahmad berkata, ia berasaskan kepada persetujuan Kerajaan Pusat untuk menjelaskan kesemua bayaran dari Petronas kepada kerajaan Terengganu yang dipanggil Dana Khas sebagaimana perjanjian asal.

"Sebelum ini, Petronas membuat bayaran dua kali iaitu minggu pertama bulan Mac dan September manakala kerajaan pusat akan membayar minggu keempat kepada kerajaan negeri dan semua bayaran akan dibuat sepenuhnya pada tahun hadapan tanpa sebarang potongan," katanya bagi menjawab soalan tambahan Dr Azman.

Berasaskan kepada perkara itulah, Ahmad berkata, kerajaan negeri bersetuju menarik balik saman tersebut kerana yang penting kerajaan negeri mendapat keseluruhan wang yang sepatutnya diterima dari Petronas.

Pada sidang medianya selepas itu, Ahmad berkata, tahun ini, Terengganu menerima RM2 bilion Dana Khas dari Petronas berbanding RM1.6 bilion tahun lalu.
   
"Penemuan medan rizab minyak baharu di PM307 dijangka memberi tambahan lima peratus atau sekitar RM100 juta setahun, bergantung pada anggaran pengeluaran, apabila pengeluaran bermula pada suku ketiga 2014," katanya.

Exxon Mobil awards RM165m contract to MMHE

Exxon Mobil Corporation's subsidiary has awarded a RM165mil contract to Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd to build the facilities for the Damar gas development project.

It said on Thursday the contract awarded by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc. would require MMHE to build the topsides and platform jacket for the project.

Damar is one of several investments that would enable ExxonMobil and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to develop natural gas assets.

The Damar project is about 200km off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia in 55 metres of water.

The project follows the previously announced Telok gas project, which ExxonMobil is developing for startup in the first quarter of 2013.

The Damar project consists of one four-legged gas satellite platform.

Installation of facilities is planned to start in the third quarter of 2013 and startup is targeted for later in the year.

Petronas, Progress Move Forward with LNG Project

PETRONAS Carigali Canada and Progress Energy Resources announced that their proposed LNG export facility is moving into the next phase of engineering.

The project’s detailed feasibility study for a LNG export facility on Lelu Island in the District of Port Edward has been successfully completed and the project is moving into the pre front-end engineering design (Pre-FEED) phase. The Pre-FEED phase will be undertaken to provide certainty around project scope and a further understanding of construction timelines, costs and labour force requirements.

“We are excited to have completed the Detailed Feasibility Study phase and are now moving into the next phase of our engineering work, which will include the submission of our project description to Canadian regulators in early 2013,” said Michael Culbert, President and CEO, Progress. “In addition, we are pleased to have officially named our project Pacific Northwest LNG and will continue to move the project forward at an aggressive pace.”

The project will include two trains, or liquefaction plants, when initially constructed. Planning will include the ability to expand with the addition of a third train in the future. The LNG throughput is currently designed for about 3.8 million tonnes per annum per train based on the LNG Export Joint Venture that was announced between the two companies in 2011.

If the proposed acquisition of Progress by PETRONAS, that is currently being reviewed by the federal government is approved, the throughput of natural gas at the LNG export facility is expected to increase by approximately 60 per cent to 6 million tonnes per annum per train which will also result in concurrent enhancements to the productivity and efficiency of related upstream activities.

Overall, Pacific Northwest LNG represents significant revenue and royalties to the provincial and federal governments, and the opportunity for economic benefits to the local First Nations and communities. A final investment decision for the project continues to be expected in late 2014, followed by the first LNG exports in 2018.

Pacific Northwest LNG will be opening its Vancouver, British Columbia office in early 2013 and will be growing its project team.

If Pacific Northwest LNG proceeds, the estimated investment in the LNG export facility is expected to be between $9 billion and $11 billion, depending on the final project scope. The construction phase would result in up to 3,500 direct jobs and the long-term operations of the facility would result in 200 to 300 direct jobs.

Oil rig platform tilts during test in Singapore shipyard, injuring 89 workers

SINGAPORE - Officials say 89 workers have been injured, some seriously, in an accident at a Singapore shipyard.

The Ministry of Manpower says the accident occurred Monday on an oil exploration rig being built by Jurong Shipyard Pte. Ltd.

The rig consists of a platform on three legs that can be raised or lowered. A shipyard spokeswoman says one of the legs failed to operate when workers were testing the rig, causing it to tilt to one side.

The ministry says the injured workers were taken to hospitals and 80 were later discharged. Three remained in an emergency ward.

An investigation of the accident is continuing.

Jurong Shipyard is a subsidiary of offshore engineering group Sembcorp Marine Ltd.

RM3 Billion Pulau Daat O&G Project To Continue As Scheduled

LABUAN – The issues that have caused the RM3 billion integrated oil and gas (O&G) project off Pulau Daat to be stopped temporarily will be resolved, said Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

He said discussions would take place soon with stakeholders to come up with better solution to ensure the mega project will continue as scheduled.

“The project is rather important and it is one of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects, and we will discuss the issues with stakeholders,” he said at a press conference after the presentation of Parent Teachers Association (PTA) contribution today.

He said the land is a private land and the government had look at ways and means for an effective solution.

A total of 104 families with Malaysian citizenship and permanent resident status as reported earlier would be provided with houses to enable the project to be implemented smoothly.

The 237 families living in Pulau Daat have been compensated earlier with RM1,000 for each family, with half of them having left the island to look for dwellings elsewhere.

Not only the living will have to go, but the dead too have been relocated since May last year, with the help of the Labuan Religious Department (Jawi) which started a massive relocation of old graves, with some even having been there for more than 40 years, to the Sungai Labu Muslim Cemetery.

Most of those staying on the island are IM13 holders of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Former secretary-general of the ministry Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib had said a meeting with various agencies and departments, including the National Security Department, had been held.

“We need the consensus from all relevant parties as those staying there are also Malaysians,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jimmy YM Tang, group project director of RG Oil and Gas, the main contractor for the project, has confirmed the relocation of all the families would be carried out soon and agreed to provide them with houses.

“We do not foresee any problems in negotiating with the families concerned for their relocation as the construction of houses would be borne by us,” he said.

Tang said the integrated O&G hub, which would provide land-based logistics and support services, would be built over four phases.

“Earthworks for the first phase of the project will be completed by year-end.

“We expect the first phase to commence operations by end-2012 or early 2013,” he said.

The hub is one of the nine new Entry Point Projects of the ETP.

Tang said the first phase, with an investment of RM500 million, would involve the building of a storage tank terminal with a capacity of 300,000 cubic metres.

“The other three phases include building a 1.5 million cu metre storage tank terminal, engineering fabrication yard and other facilities including water storage facilities,” he said.

The hub would likely benefit from the opening of new oilfields around the area, he said.

“Besides, it is also strategically located, nearer to South Korea and China that could be potential customers,” he said.

The proposed Labuan O&G hub would complement the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) being develop by Petronas in Kimanis.

– BERNAMA