Any info on Limbayong FPSO? Supposed to be one of our major projects, but so stuck stuck. Even local FPSO specialists shun it now

Yes lots of LinkedIn posting, all FPSO related. I doubt it is for the Armada Sterling V, since the hiring for that should've already been set in stone.

I thought only 1 bid submitted for Limbayong, by MTC-Shapoorji JV? Are they not working with CMIT for something in Angola?

This post has been edited by contestchris: Apr 8 2022, 12:28 PM

Wasn't Serba Dinamik the "darling" among O&G companies from roughly around 2017-2019? In fact, I had gone to Bursa Malaysia for a sharing session (as a member of the public) sometime in 2017-2018, and Serba Dinamik's top management were themselves presenting/selling Serba Dinamik. The guys seemed legit, given that Bursa Malaysia itself invited them for the session. Analysts from local/international IBs were swooning after Serba Dinamik, it was a highly recommended stock.

KPMG Kuching has been auditing Serba Dinamik going back many, many years...never an issue raised.

How can billion dollars scandal have been hidden all so well?

This post has been edited by contestchris: Apr 8 2022, 01:59 PM

If it's a bidding job, then very certainly something from Angola. That's their main focus now and a region where they already have prior experience.

Either Total's Cameia, Eni's Agogo or BP's Block 18. But the focus is on Total and Eni bids

.

This post has been edited by contestchris: Apr 11 2022, 09:12 AM

Congrats to MTC. Given that there are 21 months to prepare the FPSO, I wonder if it'll be a conversion or refurbished (if so, which?) vessel.

Does anyone here know who bought/is buying Armada Claire and where it's going to be used?

Massive hiring spree by Bumi Armada for a large-scale FPSO project. Have a hunch it's an Angolan FPSO, but no official word yet.

Ah okay so this is the Eni project in Angola, vs Yinson and MISC.

I've never seen a company advertise positions like this when there is no certainty in contract award though.

Hmm okay, but they even go to the extent of mentioning this is for June 2022 hiring. Plus I don't see Yinson and MISC doing the same advertisements.

What is the benefit to make this advertisement actually, if like what is being said here, they haven't even got the project?

According to CIMB, three Malaysian companies are bidding for two large FPSO projects in Angola.

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What are the chances of BAB winning either TotalEnergies’ Cameia FPSO project or Eni’s Agogo FPSO project? We believe that the chances are high for the following reasons. According to industry newspaper Upstream, Yinson, MISC and BAB are all bidding for two Angolan projects. In our view, Yinson will only have the capacity to take one of these two large projects due to its internal project management manpower constraints. BAB’s limited balance sheet capacity suggests that it can only accept one project, while MISC is unlikely to be able to participate as it is likely struggling with Petrobras’ FPSO Mero-3 project, in our analysis. In short, we think that Yinson and BAB may each take one prize. TotalEnergies may award the commercial deal for the Cameia FPSO in 2H22F, as with Eni’s Agogo FPSO.

This post has been edited by contestchris: May 26 2022, 02:30 PM

Is it possible for Malaysia to be the FPSO hub globally? As we have 3 experienced industry players, in the entire world not many companies specialise in this niche segment.

Indeed. With FPSO sector booming and development of marginal fields becoming more viable than ever (tech advancement + lower costs), it'd be really great if we becoming the global hub for such operations. Some non-Malaysian FPSO players also have their project teams based here in KL.

Confirm MISC, Yinson and Bumi Armada won't waste time again. Petronas screwed up massively here.

US supermajor ConocoPhillips is making headway in Malaysia with its Salam-Patawali oil development offshore Sarawak, where it is preparing to engage with providers of leased floating production, storage and offloading vessels.

Kuala Lumpur-based market sources said the US operator is keen to proceed with an FPSO development, and will be seeking an Aframax-size floater.


What will happen with Limbayong? Petronas takes its time on FPSO award
Read more
Malaysia’s leading FPSO contractors Bumi Armada, MISC and Yinson Holdings are said to have expressed an interest in this project, along with one or two other smaller regional players.

ConocoPhillips is said to be favouring a multi-year lease option for the floater, and will also require an operations and maintenance contractor.

Kuala Lumpur sources said project momentum is building and tendering activity for the FPSO should begin soon. In terms of the turret mooring system requirements, sources added that there could be a spread moored solution.

Production capacity for the FPSO has previously been estimated at between 30,000 and 55,000 barrels per day of oil, with a storage requirement of up to 600,000 barrels of oil.

The floater could also be equipped to handle just over 100 million cubic feet per day of gas.

Sources said the Salam-Patawali development would have progressed earlier if not for last year’s drilling rig incident in which the jack-up Naga-7 sank after suffering a punch-through incident while preparing to spud a well for ConocoPhillips.

Market sources also said the US operator recently awarded an engineering services contract to Genesis, with an emphasis on the subsea aspects of ConocoPhillips’ current and future activities in Malaysia.

ConocoPhillips had not responded to Upstream's inquiries about the status of Block WL4-00 at the time of publishing.

Block WL4-00 contains the Salam, Patawali and Benum shallow-water discoveries. ConocoPhillips was awarded the permit in 2017 when it already hosted the Salam-1 discovery.

In 2018 and 2019, two exploration and two appraisal wells were drilled, resulting in two oil discoveries, while two dry wells were drilled on Patawali in 2019.

Further exploration and appraisal drilling is planned for 2022 using the jack-up Icon Caren (formerly Perisai Pacific 101) owned by Malaysia’s Icon Offshore, which said previously it was hired by ConocoPhillips for three firm wells plus one option well starting in the second quarter of 2022 .

The US company said in its Form 10K filing earlier this year that in addition to this year’s planned drilling in Block WL4-00, exploration drilling is also planned in 2022 in Block SK304, which it was awarded in 2018.

3D seismic was acquired over the acreage in 2019 and processing of the data completed the same year.


FPSO spin-off on the cards as Yinson looks abroad for listing options
Read more
ConocoPhillips has another exploration permit offshore Malaysia called SB405 which it was awarded in February 2021. The permit lies in Sabah waters, and acquisition of 3D seismic is planned for 2022.

ConocoPhillips has non-operated interests in four producing assets offshore Malaysia — the Gumusut field, the Malikai field, the Kebabangan field and the Siakap North-Petai project.

It generated net production in 2021 of 35,000 bpd of oil and 66 MMcfd of gas.

Yinson Holdings has secured an exclusivity agreement with BP to negotiate a lease-and-operate contract for a floating production, storage and offloading vessel for a challenging project in Block 31 offshore Angola.

The Malaysian offshore services heavyweight said the deal applies to BP’s 10-well subsea Palas, Astrea and Juno (PAJ) project which has been on the drawing board for years, but has never taken off due to its marginal nature.

BP has gone through multiple FPSO bid processes on the project and while its deal with Yinson is a positive sign, there is still no guarantee the deepwater development will move ahead

Under its deal with the UK supermajor, Yinson will reserve the Nganhurra FPSO over which it holds an exclusive purchase option until 30 June 2023 with the floater’s owners Woodside Energy and Mitsui E&P.

There is an extension option for the purchase until 31 December 2023.

Yinson and BP plan to negotiate a contract to convert, operate, maintain and lease the FPSO, with a deadline of 31 December 2022, extendable by BP until 30 June 2023.

The lease-and-operate contract, which is expected to have a 10-year fixed term, is due to be executed by the end of 2024 subsequent to BP taking the final investment decision.

BP will have to work closely with Eni on the decision-making process for PAJ because it is in the midst of merging its Angolan operations with the Italian major through the Azule Energy joint venture, with Eni understood to be in the driving seat.

In October 2020, when the operator began its last tender process, Upstream reported that BP was targeting first oil in 2024 so the project is way behind schedule.

Prior to that time, BP was in discussions with SBM Offshore and Modec over redeploying the OSX-2 and OSX-3 FPSOs.

A veteran floater source told Upstream at the time that the supermajor was "hung up on a redeployment," despite doubts about this approach for technical and commercial reasons.

Commenting on the latest PAJ deal, Yinson Production chief executive Flemming Gronnegaard said: “This agreement emphasises Yinson’s position as the preferred contractor in executing FPSO redeployment projects, which have significant capex and schedule advantages, for established oil and gas players such as BP.

“We have recently completed two successful redeployment projects, which are the Abigail-Joseph FPSO and Helang FPSO, and the group is currently engaged in a redeployment delivery for the Atlanta FPSO."

He said “we are confident that our track record, technical knowledge and experience in this industry will support and fulfil BP’s business needs.”

The Nganhurra FPSO has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day of oil and was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in 2006.

The floater, which operated at the Enfield field in Australia until the autumn of 2018, is currently laid up outside Labuan, Malaysia.

Malaysian national oil company Petronas has again cancelled an attempt to secure a floating production, storage and offloading vessel for the Limbayong project which was to be its first deep-water oilfield development in its home country.

Multiple market sources in Kuala Lumpur said Petronas had decided the economics of the project did not stack up given the field is not especially large and the expected production rates were not high enough to warrant a stand-alone development.

The Limbayong field contains estimated proven and probable reserves of 139 million barrels of oil and 784 billion cubic feet of non-associated gas.

Water depths at the field, which straddles Blocks G, J and R offshore the state of Sabah, are between 900 and 1200 metres.

The water depth characteristics imply that the cost of subsea production equipment, flowlines umbilicals and risers, plus a deep-water drilling rig would be significant, especially given the rapid inflation in the cost of offshore oilfield services.

Well-placed sources said Petronas is very motivated to develop its own deep-water expertise and tried to enhance the economics of Limbayong by including the nearby Bestari oil discovery in the plan of development. However, that did not deliver the required financial returns.

The current tender for the FPSO was Petronas’ third attempt in recent years to secure a contractor for a leased floater.

Just one bidder was pursuing the most recent tender — an alliance between Malaysia’s MTC and India’s Shapoorji Pallonji.

MTC confirmed in an announcement in April about winning an Indonesian FPSO contract and said itself and partner Shapoorji Pallonji were “the sole bidder for Petronas Carigali’s Limbayong FPSO project, its first deep-water development off the coast of Sabah”.

The requirement was understood to have been an FPSO capable of producing 60,000 barrels per day of liquids, including 40,000 bpd of oil, plus about 180 million cubic feet per day of associated gas.

Water injection facilities for up to 75,000 bpd would have been included, and storage capacity was earmarked at about 600,000 barrels of oil.

The charter arrangement could have been up to 12 years, plus options.

What now?
Market sources in Kuala Lumpur said this does not mean the end of the project. Instead, Petronas is said to be interested in downsizing or simplifying the development, which could lead to reduced costs.

A smaller FPSO is a possibility, and so too is some other cost-effective floater option, but a subsea tie-back to an existing offshore production facility is seen as the most economic solution, project watchers said.

The Kikeh and Gumusut-Kakap fields are within tie-back distance, but neither facility is operated by Petronas.

PTT Exploration and Production runs the large FPSO at the Kikeh field while Shell operates the huge Gumusut-Kakap semi-submersible platform.

A spokesperson for Petronas said the company is formulating a reply to Upstream’s enquiry about the Limbayong project.

Other major contracts
A key contract for the Limbayong project was awarded last June to TechnipFMC covering the subsea production systems and subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines.

The fate of this contract could not be confirmed at the time of publication.

At a ceremony to celebrate TechnipFMC’s contract, Petronas’ chief executive of upstream, Adif Zulkifli, said: “We hope the project... will give confidence and invite potential investors to collaborate further in maturing the country’s deep-water resources.

“Apart from monetisation, Limbayong will be a platform to enhance our internal capabilities in preparing for the next deep-water projects not only in Sabah but also in other regions.”

Petronas is understood to have a 90% interest in Limbayong with E&P Malaysian Ventures on 10%.

Bumi Armada's latest financial statement mentions a pre-FEED contract secured and being executed, but with no further details being provided. Any idea (or guess) as to which FPSO project is the pre-FEED for? Also, is there a reason to be secretive about it? Yinson for example shared with everyone they were doing pre-FEED work for TotalEnergies FPSO in Suriname and Angola.

This post has been edited by contestchris: Aug 26 2022, 02:26 PM

Really impressed with Yinson, they are gonna win another major FPSO contract with Eni in Angola.

https://www.upstreamonline.com/exclusive/le...act/2-1-1291456

This post has been edited by contestchris: Sep 7 2022, 11:52 AM