First oil flows from Petrofac’s Malaysian oilfield

The Petrofac-operated East Cendor field in Block PM304 located 140 kilometres offshore Peninsular Malaysia achieved its first oil production on 23 June 2021.

The field was developed by Petrofac, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, and Petronas Carigali, under the Block PM304 Production Sharing Contract. Petrofac is the operator of the block.

The update on the production start-up was shared by Petronas on Friday 30 July 2021.

East Cendor represents the fourth in the series of development in Block PM304, after Cendor, West Desaru and Irama. The project comprises the development of a single new Wellhead Platform (WHP) and installation of a new 6.3km pipeline linking the field to the existing FPSO Cendor, Petronas said.

Malaysia’s Muhibbah Engineering was awarded a contract for the execution of the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the WHP for East Cendor back in August 2019. The value of the contract was approximately RM150 million.

According to Petronas, the field’s production rate is expected to peak at over 7,000 barrels of oil per day which will further extend the economic life of Block PM304.

Petronas Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, said: “East Cendor’s first oil success proves that the Malay Basin is by no means a mature hydrocarbon province. Block PM304 started as a small field development with first production from the Cendor field back in 2006. However, the total oil-in-place volume grew through continuous efforts in appraising the block’s potential, which turned out to be large.

“Known for its light and sweet quality, Cendor crude was billed as the most expensive in the world at one time. With the success of East Cendor, more active development activities are expected in the future to monetise the large remaining resources within Block PM304.

“We would like to congratulate Petrofac and its partners for their successful delivery of the project despite the COVID-19 pandemic and volatile market conditions. This success is a testament of the close collaboration amongst all the parties, including the local Malaysian fabricator and service providers, who have stepped up to the challenge of these unprecedented times”, he added.