By an OGJ correspondent
BANGKOK, Mar. 14 -- Commercial natural gas production started this month from Cakerawala field, the first field in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA) in the South China Sea.
The field, on Block A-18, began producing gas through a 366-km pipeline, more than 2 years behind the original start-up date because of pipelaying delays caused by protests of Thai villagers and environmentalists.
Production start followed a successful test in January of the onshore-offshore transmission system owned by both countries.
Block A-18 production-sharing contractors Amerada Hess Corp. and Petronas are delivering about 200 MMcfd of gas. By yearend, gas will flow through a 425 MMcfd gas separation plant under construction in Songkhla.
