KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and its US-based joint venture (JV) partner Hess Corp recently achieved first gas production in the North Malay Basin (NMB) Phase 3 project at Block PM302, located 290 kilometres offshore Peninsular Malaysia, according to the national oil company on Monday (Sept 26).

"Block PM302 is operated by Hess Corp's subsidiary, Hess Exploration and Production Malaysia BV, with a 50% participating interest, in partnership with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, which owns the remaining 50%," Petronas said in a statement.

The NMB Phase 3 project was sanctioned in 2019 and is a multi-phase development.

"It includes installation of the new Bergading-B Wellhead Platform that adds another 100 million cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of gas supply from Block PM302, bringing the total production to 400 MMscfd," Petronas added.

Petronas senior vice president of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM) Mohamed Firouz Asnan said in the statement that Hess Corp and Petronas have continued to develop the NMB project to unlock its full potential.

"This is a major milestone for both partners, as the NMB Phase 3 project is key in sustaining Peninsular Malaysia's gas supply amid rising demand.

"The close collaboration between Block PM302 parties and their service providers in overcoming challenges during the pandemic delivered this successful completion, which reflects the overall resilience of the Malaysian upstream ecosystem," he added.

In a follow-up statement, Hess Asia vice president Zhiyong Zhao said: "NMB is an important resource that will help meet the nation's growing energy needs, and we are proud to have delivered the first gas for NMB Phase 1c and Phase 3 safely."

"Our longstanding partnership with Petronas MPM, as well as the support from Petronas Carigali and associated contractors, has underpinned the ongoing success of the NMB project. Without these critical partnerships, we could not have delivered these new phases of development, particularly during a global pandemic," Zhao said. 

The NMB project, comprising PM302 and PM325 blocks, is a long-life natural gas asset consisting of 10 discovered natural gas fields with an estimated gross recoverable resource of more than 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 20 million barrels of condensate.

The Kangsar natural gas field located offshore Peninsular Malaysia was discovered in 2018 and is part of the recently sanctioned NMB Phase 4A development, with first gas targeted in the third quarter of 2022. Hess Malaysia and Petronas Carigali signed a heads of agreement last year to unite the field for development.

Petronas, through MPM, is the custodian of the petroleum resources in Malaysia. With this mandate, MPM manages petroleum arrangements in Malaysia and provides stewardship on upstream exploration and production activities in the country.