Date / Thu, 13thOct 2016 / Lead Article / -
Headline / Malaysia: Hibiscus Petroleum To Buy 50 Per Cent In Shell’s Four Sabah Oil Fields For $25m
Malaysia: Hibiscus Petroleum To Buy 50 Per Cent In Shell’s Four Sabah Oil Fields For $25m
Oil and gas offshore Myanmar, visual via MBT
October 13, 2016: Malaysian oil and gas firm Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd’s subsidiary SEA Hibiscus Sdn Bhd has announced the acquisition of 50 per cent stake in Dutch oil and gas giant Shell’s four oil fields offshore Sabah for $25 million.
SEA Hibiscus entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited and Shell Sabah Selatan Sdn Bhd to acquire Shell’s interests in the “2011 North Sabah Enhanced Oil Recovery Production Sharing Contract,” Hibiscus said in an announcement at Bursa Malaysia.
The acquisition is expected to complete next year and is subject primarily to obtaining regulatory approval of national oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd and consent of Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd which is a 50 per cent joint venture partner in the acquired assets, Hibiscus said.
The acquisition will be funded through internally generated funds and financing or credit facilities.
The four producing oil fields are in the South China Sea, off the coast of Sabah, in a key hydrocarbon province in Malaysia. The oil fields and the infrastructure acquired by the company are St Joseph, South Furious, SF30, and Barton oilfields.
The assets also include pipeline infrastructure and the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal. Total oil production averaged about 18 kbbls / day in 2015 and the oil fields provide long-term production rights until 2040 with identified future development opportunities
“Having built our portfolio of assets and developed our track record as an oil and gas company globally, we are pleased with this opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities and further evolve the company into a late field life operator that will deliver long term value to Malaysia,” said Hibiscus Managing Director Kenneth Pereira.
The acquisition is in line with the growth strategy of Hibiscus to invest in profitable development and producing business operations in our identified core geographical areas of interest, he said. It also provides the group with immediate access to proven and probable oil and gas reserves with future potential upside, Pereira added.