Bid documents are expected for an initial three platforms, interfield pipelines and an export pipeline to a new onshore receiving facility connected to Malaysian national oil company Petronas' liquefied natural gas complex at Bintulu in Sarawak.

Murphy expects gas production rates of up to 300 million cubic feet per day over 15 years under a heads of agreement it has with Petronas for gas from blocks SK 309 and SK 311.

The operator is aiming for first production in 2008 or 2009, depending on when it signs final gas sales agreements with Petronas. Murphy chief Claiborne Deming said in a conference call he was aiming to sign the sales deals this year or in the first quarter of 2007. He added that there were "no big issues to overcome. I'm optimistic of getting it done (in that timeframe)".

The project entails the sequential development of a number of gas fields in the two blocks that Deming estimated have combined immediate gas reserves of up to 2 trillion cubic feet.

" I believe there's a reasonable chance we can increase that resource substantially," he added.

There is a cluster of discoveries in SK 309 including Golok, Golok Barat, Kerambit, Serendah, Belum, Pemanis, Merapuh and the Patricia oil and gas field.

There are also the Mahkota and Wangsa gas finds in SK 311, and an undeveloped oil and gas complex featuring the Rompin, Permas and Endau fields.

Murphy's portfolio of undeveloped oil and gas off Sarawak will provide paydays for some of Malaysia's six licensed offshore fabricators Malaysia Marine&Heavy Engineering, Sime Darby Engineering, Ramunia Fabricators, HL Engineering, Oilfab and Brooke Dockyard&Engineering.

Likewise, the country's major offshore construction player, TL Offshore, will be eager to land work on any potential transportation job, as well as platform, pipeline and submarine cable installation.

For Murphy, the Sarawak gas project will be another feather in its Malaysian cap. The US independent already produces about 20,000 barrels per day of oil from the West Patricia project in block SK 309, and expects first oil in the second half of 2007 from the big deep-water Kikeh oil project off Sabah.

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Murphy turning Sarawak wheels