Malaysia's Petronas to Offer 13 Offshore Blocks in Feb. 26 Bid Round

Malaysian national oil and gas company Petronas will be offering 13 offshore exploration blocks in Malaysia at the upcoming Malaysia bid round 2021 launch on February 26, 2021. 

Also included, Petronas said, are six discovered fields to incentivize investors to undertake more extensive exploration activities within those blocks.

According to Petronas, this year’s offshore bid round also features the offering of four deepwater blocks adjacent to the coast of Sarawak and Sabah which saw prominent exploration discoveries in recent years.  

The bid rouind aunch event will be held virtually in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and live-streamed to North America, Europe as well as the Asia Pacific. 

Petronas Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM) Mohamed Firouz Asnan said the offshore bid round would feature "significant enhancements" which include larger block areas coupled with flexible bidding options and low entry costs.

"We will also be offering relatively new fiscal terms to be applied in the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) such as Enhanced Profitability (EPT) for the shallow-water blocks, the Late Life Assets (LLA) and  Small Field Assets (SFA) which are designed to match the risk and rewards of the investments with the type of assets available," he said.

“These terms have been formulated based on the feedback from industry players, taking into account market conditions, further strengthening Malaysia’s position as the oil and gas hub in a growing and thriving market of South East Asia.  Besides improved fiscal terms, Malaysia offers good network connectivity by way of established world-class infrastructure which enables ease of monetization,” he added.  

Malaysia Bid Round is an annual bid exercise organized by Petronas which offers potential investors different opportunities ranging from exploration blocks, discovered resources to late-life assets as well as study opportunities to grow their energy portfolio and create value, Petronas says.

While Malaysia Bid Round this year focuses on exploration blocks, the opportunities around late-life assets and small fields are made available progressively throughout the year, the company added.

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