According to research by natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, Malaysia provides some of the most material and attractive upstream investment opportunities in Southeast Asia, primarily because of the need for additional gas supply.
The several breakdowns in the Sabah-Sarawak gas pipeline and a delayed final investment decision (FID) on the large Kasawari gas project have led to a short-term supply crunch to the Bintulu MLNG plant.
We see this supply shortage persisting though until at least 2025, when major new fields are likely to be brought onstream. These include Jerun, Timi, Rosmari, Marjoram and Kasawari
Wood Mackenzie stated.
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According to upstream research director Angus Rodger at the 20th Asia Oil & Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur, this is considered a great opportunity for upstream players to bring gas onstream and jump ahead of the queue.
The basins with the most potential for new discoveries and undeveloped gas resources in Malaysia are in offshore Sarawak. In this area, Wood Mackenzie estimates there is already 17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of discovered and undeveloped gas that can be commercially viable. However, as many of the easiest fields have already been commercialised, those that remain will be more difficult and costly to develop.
WoodMack explained that for explorers, this means additional benefits in drilling for new sources of cleaner gas. Such discoveries can lead the queue of current resources and getting fast-tracked for development.
Malaysia has proved itself to be the hottest spot for material exploration in Southeast Asia over the last decade. Between 2010 and 2018, Malaysia had the largest annual new reserves added through exploration in six of those years
Specifically, out of the 11.2 billion barrels of oil equal discovered in Southeast Asia through that period, about 50% was found in Malaysia, highlighting its important exploration possibility.
