Royal Dutch Shell PLC has started oil production from the Malikai tension-leg platform (TLP), 100 km offshore the Malaysian state of Sabah. Peak production is expected to reach 60,000 b/d.
Malikai is the first deepwater TLP in Malaysia and the first Shell TLP outside of the Gulf of Mexico. Shell notes production wellheads on deck are connected directly to subsea wells by rigid risers, enabling simpler well completion, and providing better control over production from the reservoir and easier access for downhole intervention operations.
Oil and gas are sent 50 km to the Kebabangan oil hub for processing before evacuation to the Sabah oil and gas terminal.
Lying in 500 m of water, Malikai is Shell’s second deepwater project in Malaysia following the startup of the Gumusut-Kakap platform in 2014 (OGJ Online, Oct. 8, 2014).
Shell operates the Malikai project with 35% interest. Partners are ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd. 35% and Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. 30%.
Shell says its global deepwater business currently produces 600,000 boe/d, and is expected to increase to more than 900,000 boe/d by the early 2020s from already discovered, established reservoirs.
Two other company-operated projects currently under construction or undergoing preproduction commissioning are Coulomb Phase 2 and Appomattox in the gulf. In September, Shell reported the start of production at Stones, which lies in 2,900 m of water (OGJ Online, Sept. 6, 2016).
