KUALA LUMPUR: Petroleum Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has signed a small field asset (SFA) production sharing contract (PSC) with Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd for a discovered resource opportunity cluster, which was marketed under the Malaysia Bid Round Plus (MBR+).
The signing was done through Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM).
Situated off the coast of Sabah, the NBE cluster which consists of Nosong, Bongawan North and Epidot fields, is a predominantly gas discovery cluster.
A comparable field is Samarang, a mature field located 25 kilometres south of Nosong that has demonstrated proven production deliverability.
This marks the inaugural award of PSCs in Sabah under the MBR+ promotion.
"We welcome capable operators like Vestigo to explore, invest and develop Sabah's oil and gas resources.
"At the same time, we are committed to fostering the growth of local oil and gas services and equipment companies in Sabah and encourage collaborations that increase participation of qualified Sabahan companies in the industry," said the state's finance minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
A signing ceremony was held in conjunction with the Sabah Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, witnessed by Masidi.
Petronas was represented by MPM senior vice president Datuk Ir. Bacho Pilong while Vestigo was represented by its chief executive officer Khairul Azhar Abu Bakar.
Bacho Pilong said the award signified a successful outcome of the MBR+ cycle
which was introduced in October 2023.
"It provides an additional avenue for investors to explore and acquire DRO and Late Life Assets (LLA) available in Malaysia beyond the annual MBR by utilising and assessing information made available through the Petronas myPROdata.
"We continue to collaborate with the Sabah state government in steering a vibrant investment climate and ecosystem, which is essential in supporting Sabah local communities and players to further progress in this industry," he added.
In the coming weeks, Petronas will be signing new PSCs with more MBR+ winning bidders.
MPM acts for and on behalf of Petronas in the overall management of Malaysia's petroleum resources throughout the lifecycle of upstream oil and gas assets.