Malaysia opens new oil and gas bid round

Petronas has launched its 2023 oil and gas bid round with 10 blocks and two clusters of discovered resource opportunities on offer, the Malaysian NOC announced on Wednesday.

The plays are spread across the Malay, Sabah, Sarawak and Penyu basins.

The three blocks on the underexplored Penyu Basin are PM 417, PM 433 and PM 445. These agreements come with a five-year extension given the lack of upstream activity in the region.

The offered PM 428, PM 341 and PM 342 blocks are located on the Malay Basin.

The PM 428 block is the largest tract on offer and includes the Cahaya, Permatang, Paluh and Jebat discovered fields. These prospects are expected to contain around 2.15 billion boe.

Blocks PM 341 and PM 342 are carved out of the former PM 342 block previously put on offer. The new PM 342 contains the Chenang cluster.

Additionally, Petronas has put up blocks SK 510, 5E and SK 330 on offer, each located offshore Sarawak.

The final offering is the shallow-water SB 403 field located offshore Sabah, which contains the Bambazon cluster.

Bids will be accepted until September 15, 2023, and awards are expected to be handed out in December 2023 and January 2024.