KUCHING, Feb 15: Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros), via its subsidiary Petroleum Sarawak Exploration and Production (PSEP) Sdn Bhd, has entered into several upstream agreements that have formalised its participation in six Sarawak exploration blocks marketed under the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2022 today.
MBR is an annual licensing round organised by Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), Petronas.
According to a media release today, PSEP’s participation in three of the exploration blocks namely 2A, 3B, and 4E, marked Petros pioneering into deepwater exploration off the coast of Sarawak.
These deepwater production sharing contracts (PSCs) are going to be operated by Longboat Energy (2A) Limited, Sarawak Shell Berhad and Inpex Malaysia E&P 4E Sdn Bhd, respectively.
The remaining three shallow water blocks namely SK325, SK328 and SK418, will be operated by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd.
A signing ceremony for the PSCs was held in Kuala Lumpur today (Feb 15).
Petros Group chief executive officer (CEO) Janin Girie emphasised that the signings of these agreements were part of a focused effort to support further petroleum exploration activities to grow Sarawak’s resource base and to power the long-term socio-economic development of Sarawak by actively participating throughout the oil and gas value chain, while tackling the energy trilemma to balance reliability, affordability and sustainability.
“This is in line with our efforts to support the Sarawak government’s aspiration of being a developed region by 2030 while also progressing Sarawak’s energy transition and green energy agenda for a more sustainable energy future, towards reducing our carbon footprint as we gear up towards net zero in 2050.
“Petros is committed to our purpose which is ‘Harnessing Our Resources for the Sustainable Progress of Sarawak’,” he said in the statement.
Since its inception in 2017, Petros has grown into an integrated player throughout the oil and natural gas value chain with active participation throughout the oil and gas value chain, streamlining efforts to power socio-economic development in Sarawak by increasing access to adequate hydrocarbon resources and expanding the domestic utilisation of natural gas through industry partnerships to maximise positive benefits for Sarawakians.
With the signings, Petros now has equity in five operating PSCs, 10 exploration blocks and two Discovered Resource Opportunities (DROs), and for an onshore block in Miri, drilling is expected to commence by the second half of 2023. — DayakDaily
