Partners ink new offtake deal for Manora crude

Joint venture partners in the Manora oil field offshore Thailand have signed a new offtake agreement in relation to the marketing of crude from the field at an improved price. 

The Manora oil field is located in the G1/48 concession in the Gulf of Thailand where Mubadala Petroleum is the operator with a 60 percent interest. The remaining interest is held by Tap Energy (Thailand) Pty Ltd (30 percent) and Northern Gulf Petroleum (10 percent).

Oil & gas exploration and production company Tap said on Wednesday that Manora crude currently sells at a $0.70/bbl premium to Platts Dubai.

The Manora Joint Venture partners have secured a new crude offtake agreement, at an improved price reflecting an increase of 100% in the premium to the current contract, Tap added. This agreement will take effect from June 1, 2017.

The company also said that its hedge program, which was put in place in 2016 and comprising swaps priced at $42.15/bbl, rolled off at the end of February 2017. The hedge program contributed to the net realization of $35.70/bbl reported for 2016.

With the expiry of that program, the company has a completely unhedged position with respect to its production at present.

Production from the Manora oil development started in November 2014. The development has three key components, the platform, the floating storage offloading (FSO) unit and the development wells. The oil is stored in the FSO and exported via shuttle tanker.