Petronas finds new oil and gas fields offshore Sarawak

PETALING JAYA: Petronas has made major oil and gas discoveries through the drilling of NC3 and Spaoh-1 wells in Blocks SK316 and SK306 offshore Sarawak.

It said that in March last year, drilling of the NC3 wildcat well and a subsequent appraisal well brought significant discovery for Petronas in Block SK316 with early estimation of 2.6 trillion standard cubic feet (tscf) of net gas in place.

“The wells were each drilled to a depth of almost 4,000 metres below sea level. Additionally, production flow test results of the wells demonstrate that the field is technically producible.

“The Spaoh-1 well of 3,000m drilling depth, located in Block SK306, shows similar promise. It was drilled in December 2010 and found both oil and gas,” Petronas said in a statement.

The national oil company said preliminary evaluation indicates around 100 million barrels of oil and 0.2 tscf of gas in place, respectively. Currently, the well is being prepared for production testing.

“These discoveries support Petronas' strategy to intensify exploration activities in Malaysia and is expected to further enhance exploration potential offshore Sarawak.”

In the next three years, over 50 exploration wells are expected to be drilled offshore Malaysia by Petronas and its production sharing contractors.

“These activities, especially if they result in discoveries, are expected to spur business opportunities in the oil and gas industry and will promote upstream investment in the country,” it said.

【本刊记者撰述】国家石油（Petronas）在砂拉越岸外的勘探工作取得大进展，成功探获新的大型石油与天然气，初步估计大约蕴藏1亿桶的石油与2000亿标准立方尺的天然气。

国家石油在今天发表文告，宣布其勘探工作取得一个大进展，在砂拉越岸外的SK316 与SK306座油田发现新的石油与天然气，即NC3与Spaoh-1油井。NC3是从2010年3月份开始展开勘探工作，而Spaoh-1则是从2010年12月份开始钻油勘探工作。

根据国家石油的初步估计，这两个新油井大约蕴藏1亿桶的石油与2000亿标准立方尺的天然气。目前，相关油井已准备就绪，即将启动生产测试工作。这些油井的深度为海拔4000公尺以下。此外，生产流程测试的结果显示，从技术层面来看，这些油井可以产油。

国家石油表示，上述石油与天然气的新发现，符合该公司所采取的多元化马来西亚勘探活动的策略，并预期可进一步加强砂拉越岸外的石油勘探潜能。该公司放眼在未来三年，通过本身的勘探工作，以及生产合作承包商，在马来西亚岸外开发超过50个油田。