This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 22, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: National oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has awarded its first production sharing contract (PSC) for 2016 to three oil companies, namely PTTEP HK Offshore Ltd, KUFPEC Malaysia (SK-410B) Ltd and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, for the exploration of Block SK410B in Sarawak.

In a statement, Petronas said the PSC will see PTTEP HK Offshore operating the block with a participating interest of 42.5%, KUFPEC with 42.5% and Petronas Carigali with 15%.

PTTEP HK Offshore is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand’s national oil company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Public Co Ltd, while KUFPEC Malaysia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. Petronas Carigali is wholly owned by Petronas.

The PSC was inked by the parties yesterday, in the presence of Petronas president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.

Petronas was represented by its executive vice president (upstream), Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib; PTTEP HK Offshore by its president and CEO of PTTEP Public Co, Somporn Vongvuthipornchai; KUFPEC by its vice president of operations, Hosnia Hashim; and Petronas Carigali by its CEO, Mohamad Johari Dasri.

“Today’s (yesterday) signing not only marks Petronas’s first PSC award in 2016, but also welcomes PTTEP for their first operatorship in Malaysia,” said Mohd Anuar.