Petronas hits oil in West Africa

The deal would be worth as much as 3.5 billion rand (US$256mil), or about 20% of Engen

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) subsidiary, PC Gabon Upstream S.A. (PCGUSA) has discovered new oil and gas from its Boudji-1 exploration well in Block F14 (Likuale), located in South Gabon.

In a statement Monday, Petronas said the ultra-deepwater exploration well, drilled in water depths of 2,800 metres, encountered 90 metres of gross high quality hydrocarbon-bearing pre-salt sands. 

The discovery marks a significant milestone for Petronas as it expands upstream growth in West Africa, demonstrating its frontier exploration and deepwater operational capabilities.

“The discovery in Gabon is an encouraging development for Petronas, as we continue to pursue growth activities beyond Malaysia, in line with the strategy to expand our core oil and gas business by growing our resource base,” Petronas executive vice president & upstream CEO, Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib said in the statement. 

“Aside from boosting Gabon’s oil and gas industry, this discovery will also spur further growth activities in the region, and complements our achievements towards building a significant deepwater portfolio globally,” he added.

Petronas, together with the Ministry of Petroleum & Hydrocarbons, Gabon, will conduct an assessment to further determine the commerciality of the resource volume.

PCGUSA is the operator for Block F14 (Likuale), with Australia’s Woodside holding a 30% participating interest.

To-date, Petronas’ deepwater portfolio includes partnerships in the Gumusut-Kakap, Malikai and Kikeh deepwater fields located offshore Sabah. Additionally, there are two new upcoming deepwater development projects in the portfolio – the Limbayong field in Sabah and the Kelidang Cluster in Brunei.