PETRONAS Awards NBE Cluster PSC to Fuel Long Term Energy Needs

2024 Media Release - 27 Jun

KOTA KINABALU, 27 June 2024 - PETRONAS, through Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), today signed a Small Field Asset (SFA) Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Vestigo Petroleum  Sdn Bhd (Vestigo) for a Discovered Resource Opportunity (DRO) cluster, which was marketed under  the Malaysia Bid Round Plus (MBR+). 

Situated off the coast of Sabah, the NBE Cluster which consists of Nosong, Bongawan North and  Epidot fields, is a predominantly gas discovery cluster. A comparable field is Samarang, a mature  field located 25 km south of Nosong that has demonstrated proven production deliverability. 

This marks the inaugural award of PSCs in Sabah under the MBR+ promotion. To commemorate  this historic event, a signing ceremony was held in conjunction with the Sabah Oil and Gas  Conference and Exhibition, here, witnessed by Sabah Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Panglima  Masidi Manjun. PETRONAS was represented by MPM Senior Vice President Datuk Ir. Bacho Pilong  while Vestigo was represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Khairul Azhar Abu Bakar.  

Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi extended his congratulations to Vestigo on receiving the PSC award  and looks forward to the development of the NBE Cluster. “We welcome capable operators like  Vestigo to explore, invest, and develop Sabah's oil and gas resources. At the same time, we are  committed to fostering the growth of local Oil & Gas Services and Equipment companies in Sabah  and encourage collaborations that increase participation of qualified Sabahan companies in the  industry,” he said. 

Datuk Ir. Bacho Pilong said, “The award of this PSC signifies a successful outcome of the MBR+ cycle which was introduced in October 2023. MBR+ provides an additional avenue for investors to  explore and acquire DRO and Late Life Assets (LLA) available in Malaysia beyond the annual MBR by utilising and assessing information made available through the PETRONAS myPROdata.” 

“We continue to collaborate with the Sabah state government in steering a vibrant investment  climate and ecosystem, which is essential in supporting Sabah local communities and players to  further progress in this industry,” he added.  

In the coming weeks, PETRONAS will be signing new PSCs with more MBR+ winning bidders. 

MPM acts for and on behalf of PETRONAS in the overall management of Malaysia’s petroleum  resources throughout the lifecycle of upstream oil and gas assets. MPM is pursuing deliberate efforts  towards achieving low-carbon low-emission operations.

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