Hibiscus to acquire TotalEnergies’ Brunei subsidiary

Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad, Kuala Lumpur, aims to increase the gas production share of its portfolio to almost 50% from 36% with the acquisition of TotalEnergies EP (Brunei) BV from TotalEnergies Holdings International BV.

TotalEnergies agreed to sell 100% of its wholly owned subsidiary to the Malaysian independent oil and gas exploration and production company for $259 million.

TotalEnergies EP (Brunei) BV owns and operates a 37.5% interest in Block B, which lies 85 km off the coast of Brunei and contains Maharaja Lela/Jamalulam (MLJ) field. The field, which started producing gas and condensate in 1999, represented a net production for TotalEnergies of about 9,000 boe/d in 2023, the company said in a release June 14.

Production uplift

For Hibiscus, the asset is expected to add a net of up to 21.7 MMboe to the its 2P reserves, an increase of 36% to 82.6 MMboe from 60.9 MMboe, while total daily net production of oil, condensate, and gas is expected to increase by 7,865 boe/d to 29,263 boe/d from 21,398 boe/d this year.  

The additional volumes from the deal are material for Hibiscus, said Hibiscus Petroleum’s managing director, Dr.
Kenneth Pereira in a separate release. The deal "will provide an uplift of nearly 86% to our gas production whilst bringing us closer towards achieving our 2026 mission of growing the group’s net production to 35,000-50,000 boe/d," he continued. Employees of TotalEnergies Brunei who have been operating the asset will be joining Hibiscus as part of the transaction, he said. 

The asset has long term production rights until Nov. 23, 2029 (with a 10-year option extension subject to partner agreement). Almost 84% of the production is gas. Production infrastructure at the field consists of three unmanned platforms (MLJ1, MLJ2, MLJ3) in shallow water (less than 100 m). Twenty-two exploration, appraisal, and development wells have been drilled, with 15 active wells, according to Hibiscus.

Partners at the field are Shell Deepwater Borneo (35%) and Brunei Energy Exploration (27.5%).

The deal is expected to close in this year’s fourth quarter.