Petronas today announced the discovery of oil and gas via the Adong Kecil West-1 well in Block SK333, onshore Sarawak, the
first onshore oil and gas discovery made in Malaysia after 24 years.

The national oil corporation said the last onshore discovery was Asam Paya Field in 1989, also in Sarawak.

Petronas said the Adong Kecil West-1 well, located about 20km northeast of Miri town, was drilled by JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration (Onshore Sarawak) Ltd, the operator for Block SK333, together with its joint-venture partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd.

It said the well was drilled to a depth of 3,170 meters and encountered a total of about 349 metres of net hydrocarbon thickness.

The two drill-stem tests achieved flow rates of about 440 barrels of crude oil per day and 11.5 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, it said in a statement today.

Petronas said technical assessments are currently being undertaken by the operator to determine the resource volume of the field.

"Based on the drilling results, there are also indications that the deeper sections in the onshore area may hold additional upside potential for hydrocarbon accumulation.

"However, with the higher borehole pressures expected, drilling operations will be more challenging for the deeper reservoirs and rigs with higher specifications will be required to test such intervals," said Petronas.

To date, three discoveries have been found onshore Sarawak, namely the Miri, Asam Paya and Adong Kecil West fields.

With these discoveries, Petronas said it is proven that onshore Sarawak has the potential for more oil and gas accumulations where the Miri Field, Malaysia's first oilfield was discovered way back in 1910.

Further onshore exploration activities will be undertaken by the joint venture to support Petronas' effort to rejuvenate the nation's onshore oil and gas exploration. -- Bernama