PETRONAS AWARDS DEEPWATER BLOCK P TO MURPHY AND PETRONAS CARIGALI

PETRONAS today awarded a Production Sharing Contract to Murphy Sabah Oil Co., Ltd and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd for the ultra-deepwater Block P, a newly re-demarcated exploration area offshore Sabah.Block P was a part of the Block K acreage awarded to Murphy and PETRONAS Carigali in 1999, which had come to the end of its seven-year exploration period and was partially relinquished back to PETRONAS. About 24 per cent of the original Block K has been retained under the 1999 PSC, and Murphy and PETRONAS Carigali have been granted a five-year extension to continue its exploration programme in this area. Twenty-five per cent of the Block has been re-demarcated as Block P under a new PSC and awarded to Murphy and PETRONAS Carigali today. The remaining area of Block K has been re-demarcated into two other new blocks.

Block P, with an area of about 4,246 square kilometers, is situated approximately 200 kilometres north of Labuan Island and lies in water depths ranging from 1,300 metres to 2,500 metres. More than 80 per cent of the Block is located in water depth of more than 1,500 metres.

Under the terms of the PSC, Murphy Sabah has 60 per cent participating interest while PETRONAS Carigali, the exploration and production arm of PETRONAS, owns the remaining 40 per cent. Murphy Sabah will be the operator.The partners will acquire and process 500 square km of new 3D seismic data and drill four wildcat wells. The minimum financial commitment for the Block is US$65 million.

The PSC was signed today at the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. PETRONAS was represented by its Vice-President, Exploration & Production Business, Encik Abdullah Karim. President of Murphy Exploration & Production Company – International, Mr David M. Wood represented Murphy while PETRONAS Carigali was repersented by its Managing Director/CEO Encik Mohamad Johari Dasri.

Issued by
Media Relations Department

Jan 23, 2006OffshoreMan

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