LNG

JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp., a participant in Asia-Pacific LNG projects in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, has signed an accord to initiate discussions about acquiring interests in five natural gas fields offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

The move to set up talks comes in the form of a Heads of Agreement (HOA) between JX Nippon and Petronas Carigali, an exploration and production unit of Malaysian state energy company Petronas.

The five Petronas gas fields are called Bujang, Inas, Guling, Sepat and Tujoh and are located offshore Kerteh in eastern Malaysia.

JX Nippon said it conducted a joint study with Japanese state agency Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (Jogmec) from April 2020 until September 2021 to commercialize the fields which have a particularly high carbon-dioxide level.

The Japanese plan involves bringing the gas fields into production and in an environmentally-friendly way by capturing CO2 from the produced gas and reinjecting it into nearby mature gas fields by using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.

Feasible

“Since the study concluded that the development of such high CO2 gas field is feasible with low environmental impact by utilizing CCS technology, JX came to the decision to further evaluate these gas fields and work together towards submitting the business value proposal to Petronas,” explained JX Nippon.

The Japanese Jogmec agency has since the study with JX Nippon changed its name to the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security.

“JX Nippon said that it understood that this initiative contributes to not only stable supply of natural gas to Peninsular Malaysia but at the same time expands its business in Malaysia which is one of the core countries for JX,” said the Japanese company.

Adopting the CCS solution is in line with the strategy of JX Nippon, which is part of the Japanese ENEOS Group.

A signing ceremony on the JX Nippon-Petronas accord was held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur involving Chief Executive Hasliza Othman and JX Nippon’s Managing Director in Malaysia, Yasuto Ariga.

The five gas fields are known in Malaysia as the BIGST fields and are part of a hydrocarbon cluster.

“The gas supply from the BIGST fields is important for Peninsular Malaysia’s energy security given the significant potential that exists within the cluster,” explained Petronas.

“CCS technology will be a key solutions in monetising the fields since these fields contain high CO2 and their development will be the first CCS project in Peninsular Malaysia,” added Petronas.

UK major BP narrowed its losses with no significant one-off charges in the third quarter and announced it had lifted a “force majeure” on the floating LNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, while also forecasting US natural gas supplies would go on declining in 2021.