Technip and Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE) have clinched an engineering, procurement, and construction contract worth around US $775m (RM 2.4 Bn) for Shell’s deepwater Tension Leg Platform destined for the Malikai field offshore Malaysia.

The Technip-MMHE joint venture was awarded the contract by Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. for the TLP, which will be designed as a fully manned platform and installed 110 km offshore Sabah. It will sit in a water depth of approximately 500 m (1,640 ft) in Block G, and is Technip’s first ever TLP contract.

The TLP will weigh approximately 26,000 metric tonnes (14,000 tonne topsides, 12,000 tonne hull), and will have the capability to process up to 60,000 b/d of oil and 1.4 MMcf/d of gas. The tendons will be fabricated in the US and transported to Malaysia for installation. A total of 17 wells will be drilled from the TLP to produce the field.

Technip will lead the JV, with engineering and procurement to be carried out at its operating centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hull and moorings engineering will be performed in KL by Technip MHB Hull Engineering. The platform will be constructed and commissioned at MMHE’s fabrication yard at Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia where MMHE said the skid track and bulkhead facilities can accommodate more than 40,000 tonnes.

The work is scheduled for completion by mid-2015, with the field expected to start flowing in 2016/2017.
Lim Kwee Keong, Technip’s senior vice president, Asia-Pacific, said the contract was “a new step in our development into the burgeoning deepwater floating production facilities market in the Asia-Pacific region”.

The Block G PSC co-venturers are Shell Malaysia (operator, 35%), Petronas Carigali (30%) and ConocoPhillips Sabah Ltd. (35%), who took the Final Investment Decision earlier this month. The PSC was awarded by Petronas in 1995. “Malikai is an exciting oil development in Shell Malaysia’s upstream portfolio and will cement Malaysia’s position as a regional deepwater hub and centre of excellence,” said Iain Lo, chairman of Shell Malaysia.