PETRONAS Strengthens Partnership With Existing Players Through Signing of Four New Exploration PSCs

KUALA LUMPUR, 23 March 2022 – PETRONAS has signed Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for five offshore exploration blocks, namely SB412, 2W and X located off the coast of Sabah, and SK439/SK440 located off the coast of Sarawak. 

The PSC signing ceremony took place yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre which had been awarded in the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2021.

Block SB412 in Sabah was signed between PETRONAS, PTTEP HK Offshore Limited and SapuraOMV Upstream (M) Sdn Bhd, while the PSCs for ultra-deepwater Blocks 2W and X were signed between PETRONAS, Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd., Shell Sabah Selatan Sdn Bhd and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd. 

The PSC for Sarawak’s Block SK439/SK440 was signed between PETRONAS, Sarawak Shell Berhad and Petroleum Sarawak Exploration & Production Sdn Bhd. 

PETRONAS Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), Mohamed Firouz Asnan signed the PSCs on behalf of the company.

Mohamed Firouz said, “PETRONAS is pleased that the newly signed PSCs would attract a capital commitment of about RM600 million in exploration activities in Malaysia, reflecting the attractiveness of Malaysia’s hydrocarbon resources potential. 

“The reduction in global exploration drilling over the past two years has pressured the industry to resolve current supply shortages. As global economies have started to recover post-pandemic, the industry needs to ensure exploration activities continue to sustain production. 

“PETRONAS is committed to reducing carbon emissions from our operations with technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage. We look forward to working together with our partners to provide safe and reliable energy to the market.” 

MBR is an annual Malaysia licensing round hosted by MPM which offers investors diverse upstream opportunities, including exploration acreages, discovered resource opportunities and late life producing assets. The MBR 2022, themed “Your Advantaged Energy is Here”, was launched on 27 January, offering 14 exploration blocks, six clusters of Discovered Resource Opportunities and one Late Life Asset cluster. 

PETRONAS, through MPM, manages petroleum arrangements in Malaysia and provides stewardship on upstream petroleum activities.

For more information on investment opportunities in Malaysia, please visit: https://www.petronas.com/mpm/