Petronas awarded two production-sharing contracts (PSC) for blocks SB331 and SB332 onshore Sabah, Malaysia, to SapuraKencana Energy Sabah Inc., M3nergy Berhad and Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd.

The award was made after a competitive bidding exercise where Petronas invited bids from upstream companies for these blocks, the company said in a press release.

Blocks SB331 and SB332, measuring 13,114 sq km and 17,933 sq km (5,063 sq miles and 6,924 sq miles), respectively, are located in the eastern part of Sabah. There have been minimal activities in the blocks, but the presence of oil and gas seeps indicates a probable working petroleum system.

Under the term of both PSCs, SapuraKencana will operate the blocks with participating interest of 70%, while M3nergy will own up to 25% of the equity, according to the release.

The partners are committed to drill two wildcat wells and acquire 500 line km (311 miles) of new 2-D seismic data in Block SB331 as well as to drill one wildcat well and acquire 100 line km (62 miles) of new 2-D seismic data in Block SB332. In addition, they will also carry out other integrated studies based on existing data for the two blocks.

The PSCs were signed today in Kuala Lumpur, and present to sign the contracts were Executive Vice President and CEO Upstream of Petronas, Dato’ Wee Yiaw Hin; President and Group CEO of SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Shahril Shamsuddin; Director of M3nergy Berhad, Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman; and President and CEO of Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd., Datuk M Anuar Taib.