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ConocoPhillips Sarawak contracts jack-
up rig for Malaysian drilling campaign
PROJECTS & UNITS of US independent ConocoPhillips have about $40mn. Icon’s managing director, Datuk
COMPANIES contracted Icon Offshore to provide a jack-up Seri Hadian Hashim, was quoted by media as
rig for a multi-well drilling campaign offshore saying that the Icon Caren had been working
Malaysia that is due to start in the second quar- continuously since April 2021.
ter of this year. Indeed, the rig won a contract from Petrofac
According to a February 11 filing, Icon’s I in early 2021 for a primary period of 180 days to
Oilfield Services subsidiary was issued a letter of drill eight wells and an optional three-well exten-
award by two units collectively known as Cono- sion. In September 2021 the rig secured more
coPhillips Sarawak on December 23, 2021. The work offshore Malaysia, which was scheduled to
contract has an estimated value of $9.6mn and start in October 2021 for a period of 120 days for
involves the provision of the Icon Caren jack-up four wells.
rig, previously known as the Perisai Pacific 101. Maybank Investment Bank said the value
The filing said the rig had been contracted to of the ConocoPhillips Sarawak contract was
drill three wells plus one well. It did not clarify within prevailing market rates. A Maybank ana-
any further details, but it appears that Cono- lyst, Liaw Thong Jung, was quoted in Malaysia’s
coPhillips will have the option to extend the New Straits Times as saying the contract’s 3-4
contract to drill one additional well following month duration was shorter than the bank had
the initial three-well campaign. initially expected. However, he added that he
The rig was renamed when it was pur- saw the prospects of a contract extension or new
chased by Icon from Perisai Petroleum in a deal charter as being high for the Icon Caren over the
announced in 2020 for a reported price tag of next 12 months.
Thailand plans another LNG import terminal
PROJECTS & THAILAND is looking to establish itself as 2011 under the monopoly of PTT. However, the
COMPANIES a regional LNG hub with plans to expand its government is now taking steps to liberalise the
import capacity. This week, PTT and the Elec- market and has recently granted import licences
tricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to a number of companies with the intention of
agreed to form a joint venture to co-invest in a developing an LNG hub that could provide gas
second LNG regasification terminal in Rayong throughout Thailand and the region.
Province. The country’s Energy Regulatory Commis-
State-run Egat is expected to invest THB20bn sion (ERC) has granted LNG import licences
($617.2mn) in the new facility, according to the to six companies: Electricity Generation,
Bangkok Post. Egat had been considering invest- Gulf Energy Development, B.Grimm Power,
ment in a floating storage and regasification Hin Kong Power, PTT Global LNG and Siam
unit (FSRU) in the northern part of the Gulf of Cement Group.
Thailand. However, the National Energy Policy The government is hoping that with deregu-
Council (NEPC) urged Egat to forego the FSRU lation numerous competitors will stabilise prices
project and instead invest in PTT’s LNG import in the domestic market, benefiting power gener-
terminal project at Nong Fab, which it deter- ation companies, industrial consumers and the
mined was more commercially viable. operators of gas-powered vehicles.
PTT, the state-owned oil and gas company, Thailand currently meets most of its gas
in 2019 started construction of the Nong Fab demand from fields in the Gulf of Thailand,
LNG receiving terminal at a cost of THB41.4bn the Malaysia-Thailand joint development area
($1.28bn). It is due to begin receiving LNG and and onshore gas. Gas imports, amount to some
processing it for storage in mid-2022. The Egat- 30% of consumption, come from neighbouring
PTT joint venture facility will be located nearby Myanmar and LNG. Demand for LNG is fore-
and have an import capacity of 7.5mn tonnes per cast to grow due to declining domestic reserves.
year (tpy). Combined with the plant that is about According to the BP Statistical Review 2021,
to open, capacity will increase to 19mn tpy. Thailand consumed 46.9bn cubic metres of gas
Thailand has been importing LNG since in 2020.
Week 07 18•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
