MIRI, Sept 6 — The federal government is currently in discussions with Petronas for Petros to lead the petroleum management site regulations on onshore activities at blocks including Limbang.
Petros vice-president portfolio and planning Abang Arabi Abang Narudin disclosed this in reply to Deputy Minister of Transport and Limbang MP Hasbi Habibollah during a question and answer session at the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Convention for the northern region here yesterday.
Hasbi said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had previously mentioned the possibility of oil being found in Limbang.
“Since this was mentioned, the people of Limbang have been asking about it. So I want to know what is the status of oil in Limbang. So let us all pray that there is really oil in Limbang,” Hasbi said.
Abang Arabi explained that Petros is currently studying evaluations of all onshore blocks in Sarawak.
“For the first time in the history of Sarawak, we will see active participation of Sarawak through Petros in the upstream (exploration and production) for both offshore and onshore blocks. Petros farm-in to Production Sharing Contracts in Sarawak will contribute to revenue generation for Sarawak’s economy, at the same time develop support for oil and gas industries through the regulation and operation of the onshore blocks.
“We know that there have been a lot of activities in the past by companies like Nippon Oil, and yes they have found some discoveries closer to Miri, but we need assessment including in Limbang.
If we look at the aspect of geography, Limbang is straddled between this state and Brunei. So we are looking at that. If we find some promising prospects and economics to develop, we will expand the exploration activities and development beyond Miri,” he said.
He added Petros hoped activities would commence before the end of the year.
“We will invite interested companies to invest and take the risk to explore the onshore blocks.
“Right now we know that most oil and gas productions are offshore. For onshore there are challenges that we need to address because onshore technology is not simple. In Papua New Guinea, drones are used to plant hydrophones to carry out surveys,” he said further.
Hasbi added if oil is found in Limbang, it would definitely be a boost for Limbang town and would bring more development. — Borneo Post Online
