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By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Sept 21: Malaysia Petroleum Management senior vice president Mohamed Firouz Asnan states that 70 per cent of the remaining gas resources in Sarawak contain high levels of contaminants, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and mercury, and may also be sour.
Mohamed Firouz mentioned this in his speech at the ground-breaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the Sarawak Integrated Sour Gas Evacuation System (SISGES) sour gas hub for Shell’s Rosmari-Marjoram Bintulu Onshore Gas Plant today in Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu.
“After Timi, the next gas field that will come onstream is Jerun, which is expected by the middle of next year, followed by the Kasawari field. While Jerun is sweet, Kasawari has high CO2, essentially marking the end of ‘easy gas’ in Sarawak.
“The development of the Rosmari and Marjoram discoveries in Block SK318 therefore becomes an imperative, in order to supply the existing demand centres in Sarawak.
“However, in developing Rosmari and Marjoram, PSC (Production Sharing Contract) parties had to contend with addressing the technical challenges of the H2S (hydrogen sulphide) and mercury. These contaminants in the gas stream require the facilities to be equipped with high performance materials, which means higher development cost,” he said.
He went on to say that the Sarawak Integrated Sour Gas Evacuation System, or SISGES project, redefines the Malaysian upstream industry.
“Today, we are witnessing the ground breaking of the first part of SISGES, which consists of the development of the Onshore Gas Plant, OGP-1, just behind us.
“But what we don’t see from here, is the parallel development of the offshore Rosmari and Marjoram gas fields that will feed this new plant.
“These fields are located about 220km northwest of us, in water depth up to 800m.”
Furthermore, he stated that when combined with the Lang Lebah development and its associated OGP-2 plant, the SISGES has a total daily production of 2 bscf (billion standard cubic feet), making it Sarawak’s largest integrated development.
“In the case of Rosmari and Marjoram fields in Block SK318, the geologists back then believed that the hydrocarbon potential of the Central Luconia province can extend northward in the deeper waters, beyond the existing production hubs. They had the courage to propose the drilling of the Rosmari and Marjoram exploratory wells in 2014.
“Credit to them – they found significant quantities of gas, but what they also found was that it contained quite a considerable amount of contaminants.”
Mohamed Firouz further remarked that subsequent exploration efforts also found Timi field, which turned out to be sweet gas, and that this is the field that recently came onstream just before Merdeka Day, five years after its discovery in 2018.
The event was attended by various dignitaries and officials, including Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg who officiated the ceremony, Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development (M-Ficord) Sarawak Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, Transport Sarawak (MOTS) Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, and Shell Malaysia country chair and senior vice president Upstream Siti Sulaiman. — DayakDaily
