Petronas wins first offshore project in Eastern Sudan

Aug 31, 2005 (KUALA LUMPUR) — Malaysian National oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said it has won its first offshore oil and gas project in Sudan.

Petronas said it was awarded an area known as Block 15, covering a region of 28,655 square kilometers in the Red Sea Basin, after signing an exploration and production sharing agreement.

The move follows its purchase this week of a 50 pct stake in a refinery project in Sudan, to produce high-quality petroleum products.

Petronas Carigali Overseas, a unit of Petronas, will hold a 35 pct interest in Block 15, where half the acreage is located in deep waters.

The remaining equity is shared between the China National Petroleum Corporation, Sudan’s national oil company SUDAPET, Express Petroleum of Negeria and the Sudanese High Tech Group, it said in a statement.

The agreement “marks Petronas’ entry into the offshore operation in the country, after being active in the onshore exploration since 1997,” it said.

Petronas and its partners are to drill five wildcat wells with a total minimum expenditure of 58 mln usd in three periods over six years, as well as explore for gas.

“Block 15 is known to be gas prone. With the award of the Block, Sudan will realize its first integrated gas project,” it said.

“Under this contract, the investors will sell the discovered gas jointly with the government and be given the opportunity to jointly invest in the potential downstream gas, power and petrochemical projects.”