SINGAPORE� Malaysian state oil company Petronas has signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with Amerada Hess International Ltd. and Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. for deepwater Block F off Sarawak. Amerada Hess's minimum financial commitment on the block is $10.5 million.
This is the tenth and last of the demarcated deepwater blocks to be awarded by Petronas. Amerada Hess (Malaysia-Block F) Ltd., a subsidiary of Amerada Hess International, will operate the block. Under the PSC signed, Amerada Hess will hold an 85% stake in the block, while Petronas Carigali will own the remaining 15%.
Block F is located about 350 km northwest of Bintulu. The block covers an area of about 8,000 sq km, with water depths ranging from 200 m to 1,200 m. Although the block has not previously been awarded for exploration, a total of 1,070 line-km of 2D seismic has been acquired to evaluate its potential.
The operator will acquire and process an additional 4,000 line-km of 2D seismic data and will reprocess 1,000 line-km of the existing 2D data. The company will also drill one wildcat to a depth of at least 2,500 m below the seabed as well as undertake a series of geological and geophysical studies within the block.
With the award of Block F, Amerada Hess has joined the ranks of operators like Sarawak Shell Bhd., Esso Production Malaysia Inc., and Murphy Oil Corp. in Malaysia's deepwater exploration and production activities. The company made its entry into the country's upstream activities in February 1998 when it signed two PSCs for Blocks PM304 and SK306, off Terengganu and Sarawak respectively.
