A subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has won a bid to survey for oil and gas in a new block in Malaysia’s sea, PTTEP said on March 23.

PTTEP CEO Montri Rawanchaikul said the company’s subsidiary PTTEP HK Offshore Ltd and its Malaysian partner, SapuraOMV Upstream, have signed a production-sharing contract with Petronas. The joint venture was awarded the right to survey in Block SB412, northwest of Sabah state.

Montri said the joint venture won the Malaysia Bid Round 2021 to win the right to carry out the survey and now PTTEP has had 12 survey contracts in Malaysia.

The Block SB412 has an area of 15,914sq km. Montri said the initial geological study showed that the plot has high crude oil potential and crude has been found in nearby blocks.

Montri added that the nearby area has the infrastructure to support an oil refinery.

He said PTTEP HK Offshore will be the operator under the contract and it holds a 60 per cent stake in the joint venture, while SapuraOMV holds 40 per cent.

Other oil survey blocks in Malaysia which the PTTEP has won the right to survey include SK405B, SK410B, SK348, and PM407.

Montri said the crude oil surveys in Malaysia are being carried out under the “Coming Home” strategy, under which PTTEP will shift its focus to do more surveys for crude oil in Southeast Asia.

THE NATION (THAILAND)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK