PETRONAS: PETRONAS Launches The Malaysia Bid Round 2021

PETRONAS has successfully launched the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2021 themed “Grow Your Energy Portfolio With Us” through a virtual event held on 26 February 2021, with over 250 potential and existing investors streaming live from North America, United Kingdom and Europe as well as Asia Pacific. With 13 exploration blocks being offered, the MBR 2021 is set to open up more investment opportunities for investors to explore and monetise hydrocarbon resource potentials in Malaysia.

Out of the 13 blocks, three are situated in the Malay basin (PM340, PM327 and PM342), four in the Sabah basin (SB409, SB412, 2W and X) and the remaining six are located in Sarawak basin (ND3A, SK4E, SK328, SK427, SK439 and SK440). Included in blocks PM342, SK4E, SK328 and SB409 are six discovered fields as a base for investors to explore more, and help accelerate monetisation. MBR 2021 also features the offering of four deepwater blocks (ND3A, 4E, 2W and X) off the coast of Sarawak and Sabah which saw prominent exploration discoveries in recent years.

MBR is an annual Malaysia licensing round organised by PETRONAS which offers investors diverse opportunities in Malaysia ranging from exploration blocks and undeveloped, discovered resources to late life assets as well as technical study opportunities for potential investors to grow their energy portfolio and create value. Whilst MBR this year focuses on exploration blocks, the opportunities around late life assets and undeveloped smaller discovered fields will be made available in the second half of this year.

For this year’s bid round, PETRONAS has introduced three new Production Sharing Contract (PSC) terms. The first is the Enhanced Profitability PSC Terms (EPT) which will be applied to nine shallow water blocks, out of the 13 blocks offered. The EPT terms are formulated based on the feedback received from industry players to provide more attractive returns under current market conditions. The new Small Field Assets (SFA) and Late Life Assets (LLA) PSC Terms introduced recently were also developed based on market feedback to provide opportunities for industry players with niche capability to extract greater value from discovered resources and LLAs.

PETRONAS has also incorporated several non-fiscal enhancements for the exploration blocks being offered such as larger block size, flexible bidding options e.g. the option to merge two adjacent blocks under one PSC, transferable minimum work commitments between two adjacent PSCs and phased exploration period.

At the same time, PETRONAS is offering three large areas for study arrangement. First is the area to the south of the Malay Basin in Peninsular Malaysia with Pre-Tertiary and basement emerging plays yet to be explored. The second and third area cover the deepwater of north of Luconia that extends north easterly to Sabah which could have extension of proven plays.

PETRONAS Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), Mohamed Firouz Asnan said: “As an industry, we need to continue with exploration activities to seize the immense opportunities that the energy transition presents. If we don’t, we would then position ourselves out of the new energy equation.

“While exploration & production opportunities may appear everywhere around the world, I believe you will find ‘advantaged barrels’ here in Malaysia in diverse forms and when you seize the right opportunities that complement your portfolio, you will not only balance but also strengthen your portfolio. We hope to see new investors this year, including existing players to further grow their portfolio in Malaysia,” he added.

Following the MBR 2021 launch, PETRONAS will host a virtual data room which will be accessible from today until 6 August 2021, allowing potential investors to conduct data room reviews anywhere and anytime within the bid round period. Subsequently, the bid evaluation exercise is expected to take place between August and September 2021. PETRONAS plans to award the PSCs to successful bidders before the end of the year.

Apart from issuing and managing petroleum arrangements in Malaysia, PETRONAS through MPM also plays its role as the country’s oil & gas industry shaper and investment enabler by providing stewardship on upstream petroleum activities in Malaysia. It is the single contact point for investors into Malaysia’s oil and gas industry, which is a unique feature differentiating PETRONAS against its peers globally.