KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) deepwater development project - Gumusut-Kakap (GK) Phase 3 - off the coast of Sabah, achieved its first oil production on July 31, 2022.

"Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd is the operator of the GK project, in partnership with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, ConocoPhilips Sabah Ltd, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd, and PT Pertamina Malaysia Eksplorasi Produksi," said the national oil company in a statement here today.

Two new oil producer wells and two water injector wells were drilled.

Once fully completed in the first quarter of 2023, the four wells will add around 25,000 barrels per day to GK's existing production capacity, it said.

"We are very proud of the tremendous efforts of our petroleum arrangement contractors includingour service providers who, with the strong support of the Sabah state government, managed toovercome the challenges faced by the project, especially during the height of the pandemic.

"It is a real testament to the resilience of the local oil and gas ecosystem.

"Whilst the shallow inboard areas continue to underpin the country's production, the future lies inthe deepwater plays which make up a quarter of our offshore acreages," said Mohamed Firouz Asnan, Petronas senior vice-president of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM).

Petronas, through MPM, manages petroleum arrangements in Malaysia and provides stewardship of upstream petroleum activities.

-- BERNAMA