Reuters: Shell makes new oil find off Brunei: KUALA LUMPUR: “Royal Dutch/Shell says it has made an important oil discovery in Brunei, reviving hopes for the tiny Southeast Asian kingdom's oldest oilfield.” (ShellNews.net)
Thu 7 October, 2004
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Royal Dutch/Shell says it has made an important oil discovery in Brunei, reviving hopes for the tiny Southeast Asian kingdom's oldest oilfield.
Brunei Shell Petroleum Co, a 50/50 joint venture between the Anglo-Dutch major and Brunei government, made the new discovery in waters off the Seria field, where it announced its first oil strike 75 years ago.
"We regard this as a very important discovery because there are up to 20 similar structures in this area," Mark Carne, managing director of Brunei Shell, said in a statement seen on the Shell Web site on Thursday.
"If this success is replicated, we estimate total recoverable oil of up to 100 million barrels from the whole of the Seria North Flank."
Seria was Brunei's first commercial field discovered in 1929 by Shell, which accounts for over 90 percent of oil produced in the kingdom sandwiched between Malaysia and Indonesia on the Borneo island.
Shell SHEL.L said it was proceeding with plans to fast-track further exploration, appraisal and development of Seria's North Flank after the discovery made 3 km (1.9 miles) offshore.
Brunei's crude reserves are officially estimated at around 1.4 billion barrels.
Oil production peaked at more than 240,000 bpd in 1979. But the country has cut back on output since to extend the life of oil fields and improve recovery rates, officials said.
Shell said in May it estimated Brunei's crude output for this year at 200,000 barrels per day versus 202,000 bpd in 2003.
Shell also operates the only refinery in Brunei.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=598085§ion=finance