UK supermajor to target 'outstanding' ultra-deepwater prospect

UK supermajor Shell is set to imminently spud a high-impact ultra-deepwater wildcat targeting an "outstanding" prospect offshore Malaysia.

Shell will use Noble Corporation’s drillship Noble Viking to drill the Pekaka-1 exploration well on Block SB 2W offshore Sabah, East Malaysia, where it is partnered by national upstream company Petronas Carigali.

Petronas’ Malaysia Petroleum Management Petronas senior vice president of MPM, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, earlier described the Pekaka prospect as “outstanding” and as being “the spitting image of the Tepat oil and gas discovery in deep-water Block M”.

He noted that while development infrastructure in Sabah has been a concern, national energy giant Petronas' timely success with floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology has continued the exploration interest from international companies.

Shell declined to comment on the Pekaka exploration well, which is expected to be completed around 15 March.

Sabah deep-water blocks SB 2W and SB X — which hosts the drill-ready Bijak prospect — were offered in Malaysia’s 2021 Bid Round, and Petronas in March 2022 signed production sharing contracts for these tracts with Shell and co-venturer Petronas Carigali.

Then-new high resolution multi-client 3D seismic data clearly showed the blocks’ Oligo-Miocene carbonate build-ups and synrift sequences.

In addition, the syn-dip below is thought to contain lacustrine to marine sediments, which can be self-sourcing. This could lead to yet another play opener, according to Firouz.

Malaysia’s Deepwater Revenue over Cost model — an improved version of the 2018 Deepwater PSC terms — applies to these two Sabah blocks.

“Between 2024-2025, Shell will likely drill around eight exploration wells [offshore Malaysia], mainly in the Sarawak basin, with Pekaka on Block SB 2W and Jitu on Block SB X being key wells in Sabah,” added Pandey.

The drillship Noble Viking recently completed drilling PTTEP’s Rotan-2 appraisal well on Block H offshore Sabah under a novated option from Shell’s long-term charter offshore Malaysia. Following the Pekaka exploration well, the drillship is expected to work on Shell’s Rosmari-Marjoram field development and Phase 4 of its Gumusut-Kakap project.

This campaign is expected to keep the Noble Viking occupied into the second quarter of 2025, Noble Drilling earlier said.

The drillship that Shell named as 2023’s ‘global floater rig of the year’ recently completed her 10-year Special Periodic Survey (SPS) in a dry-dock at Seatrium’s shipyard in Singapore ahead of mobilising to drill the Rotan-2 well.