KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd subsidiary, PC Gabon Upstream SA, has discovered new oil and gas from its Boudji-1 exploration well in South Gabon, West Africa.
The discovery marks a significant milestone for Petronas as it expands upstream growth in exploration and deepwater operation in West Africa, it said in a statement.
Petronas said the ultra-deepwater exploration well, drilled in water depths of 2,800 metres, encountered 90 metres of gross high quality hydrocarbon-bearing pre-salt sands.
“The discovery in Gabon is an encouraging development for Petronas, as we continue to pursue growth activities beyond Malaysia, in line with the strategy to expand our core oil and gas business by growing our resource base,” said Petronas executive vice president and upstream chief executive officer, Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib.
“Aside from boosting Gabon’s oil and gas industry, this discovery will also spur further growth activities in the region, and complements our achievements towards building a significant deepwater portfolio globally,” he added.
Petronas, together with the Ministry of Petroleum & Hydrocarbons, Gabon, will conduct an assessment to further determine the commerciality of the resource volume.
PC Gabon Upstream is the operator for Block F14 (Likuale), with Australia’s Woodside holding a 30 per cent participating interest.
Further strengthening the company’s presence in West Africa, Petronas recently signed a farm-out agreement (FOA) with Australia’ FAR Ltd for a 40 per cent interest in the offshore petroleum licenses of Blocks A2 and A5 located offshore Gambia.
To-date, Petronas’ deepwater portfolio includes partnerships in the Gumusut-Kakap, Malikai and Kikeh deepwater fields located offshore Sabah.
Additionally, there are two new upcoming deepwater development projects in the portfolio – the Limbayong field in Sabah and the Kelidang Cluster in Brunei.
Petronas’ global upstream reach continues to expand to Mexico with the winning of six deepwater blocks in bidding round 2.4, positioning Petronas as the second largest gross acreage holder in offshore Mexico with a total of nine blocks.