Yahoo.com: Shell Delivers First Gas From Malaysia's Serai Project

Friday June 18, 4:40 PM

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Shell Malaysia has begun delivering natural gas from Malaysia's offshore Serai field to the country's giant liquefied natural gas plant in Sarawak state, the company said Friday.

Shell Malaysia, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD), is supplying 300 million cubic feet a day of gas from upstream block SK-8 to Shell's M3 and E11 gas production facilities.

The first gas was delivered June 9, the company said.

Serai was discovered in 1993 as part of the M3 facility that supplies gas to MLNG Tiga - the third of three production units in Malaysia's 23 million ton-a-year LNG complex, the world's largest by capacity.

Shell Malaysia operates the Serai project with a 37.5% interest, partnering Japanese firm Nippon Oil Exploration, a unit of Nippon Oil Corp. (5001.TO), which owns an equal stake.

Petronas Carigali, the upstream arm of Malaysia's state-owned Petronas (PET.YY), holds the remaining 25%, a Shell Malaysia spokeswoman said.

Shell Malaysia, the country's largest foreign oil investor, is raising its profile in the gas-rich areas offshore Sarawak and neighboring Sabah state.

The region accounts for about two-thirds of Malaysia's 6 billion cubic feet a day of gas output.

Petronas plans to offer up to six new exploration blocks in the area within the next three to four months, Shamsul Azhar Abbas, the company's exploration and production vice president said earlier this week.

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