Amsterdam, August 11th — Petronas, the world renowned and famous Malaysian oil- and gas company, confirmed it had delivered with the Sloanea-2 appraisal well on Block 52, which also hosts the 2024 Fusaea discovery and the 2023 Roystonea find in a water depth of 800 metres.
A spokesperson for the Malaysian oil- and gas company said the successful appraisal of its Sloanea discovery had bolstered its prospects in the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin “ and opens the possibility of developing a standalone FLNG project at the field in the future”.
The December 2020 Sloanea-1 exploration well encountered several hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone packages with good reservoir qualities in the Campanian section.
Petronas added it is currently assessing the feasibility of an integrated development strategy for gas and oil extraction within Block 52.
Roystonea and Fusaea, about nine kilometres apart from each other contain oil, while the Sloanea block is a gas containing asset .
Consultant Wood Mackenzie earlier pegged the latter two fields’ recoverable resources at approaching 400 million barrels of oil, which it said could be sufficient to support a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with processing capacity of up to 100,000 barrels per day.
Equal co-venturers in the 4749-square kilometre Block 52 which lies north of the coast of Paramaribo are Petronas and US supermajor ExxonMobil.
The co-venturers have a letter of agreement with Suriname’s state-owned oil company and market regulator Staatsolie that would provide them with a 10-year tax-free period from the start of gas production at Block 52.
A spokesperson of Petronas said that the company had achieved better than outstanding successe in its exploration and appraisal activities in both Peninsular Malaysia and internationally, during the first half of 2024.
The company hailed the Bekok Deep-1 oil and gas discovery in made in May offshore Peninsular Malaysia, which opened up a new play.
Petronas noted Bekok Deep stands out due to its promising well testing results, which demonstrate a strong hydrocarbon flow rate. The discovery highlights substantial hydrocarbon potential in this new play, marking a significant milestone in Peninsular Malaysia’s energy sector over the past decade, it said.
“We are extremely pleased with these breakthroughs, as they reaffirm Petronas’ commitment and expertise to providing exceptional value through substantial discoveries in Malaysia and internationally, driven by strategic and innovative approaches,” said Petronas executive vice president and chief executive of upstream, Mohd Jukris Abdul Wahab.
Mohd Jukris Abdul Wahab
“These milestones underscore Petronas’ ongoing initiatives to enhance our exploration endeavours in selected focus regions and [to] strive for sustainable resource replenishment,” added Jukris.
High level shifts at Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) most likely will materialise by early next month, sources familiar with the national oil company.
It is understood that Datuk Adif Zulkifli, executive vice-president and CEO of the company’s upstream business, may be transferred to take over the position of executive vice-president and CEO of the gas and maritime business.
Adif, 54, has long been regarded as the No 2 at Petronas after president and group CEO Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz.
Adif has helmed Petronas’ upstream business since October 2019. In his new role, he will be responsible for growing Petronas’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) business and overseeing the alignment of the company’s maritime and logistics strategy.
Nevertheless, says an industry source, “it’s a lateral move for him (Adif), and he is likely to have his hands full, [as] it’s the big portfolio of LNG and maritime businesses”.
