Malaysia is destined to get a third liquefied natural gas export plant at Bintulu, Sarawak.
Occidental LNG (Malaysia) Ltd., state owned Petronas, Nippon Oil Corp., and Shell Gas BV signed a joint venture agreement to build and operate the 6.8 million metric ton/year plant, aiming for start-up in 2000.
Interests will be Petronas 60%, and Oxy, Nippon, Shell, and Sarawak 10% each. The plant will liquefy gas from fields discovered off Sarawak by Oxy, Nippon, Shell, and Petronas Carigali.
With reserves of 2.9 tcf, Jintan field, discovered by Oxy in 1992, will provide first gas to the plant.
Oxy holds a 37.5% interest in Block SK-8, which contains Jintan field and four other discoveries. Nippon also owns a 37.5% interest in the block, while Petronas Carigali owns the remaining 25%.
The plant will initially have two LNG trains, each capable of producing as much as 3.4 million metric tons/year of LNG. A third train may be added if market demand warrants it.
Upon completion of the third plant, the Bintulu LNG complex will be the biggest in the world. It will allow an increase in Sarawaks gas production to 3.5 bcfd to support growth of Malaysias LNG exports to nearly 23 million tons/year.
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