Ratu Nusantara will facilitate exploitation of satellite fields offshore Indonesia
Malaysia’s national upstream company Petronas Carigali has struck a deal to retain the Ratu Nusantara floating production, storage and offloading vessel on its Bukit Tua oilfield offshore Indonesia for another 10 years.
The extended charter will support continued production from Petronas’ Ketapang working area while enabling the exploitation of nearby fields including Hidayah — that is due on stream in 2027, Barokah and Bukit Panjang, which are under development.
The floater has the capacity to process up to 25,000 barrels per day of of oil and 60 million cubic feet per day of gas. The vessel can store up to 600,000 barrels of crude.
The FPSO generates long-term revenue for the East Malaysian state Sabah through Sabah International Petroleum (SIP) via SMJ Energy, and its Indonesian subsidiary M3 Ketapang Sejahtera.
The renewal reflects more than 11 years’ consistent operational performance. Since the FPSO’s contract was initially warded in 2012, Ratu Nusantara has achieved first oil from Bukit Tua in 2015, secured an earlier charter extension during the global pandemic and recorded more than 2.7 million manhours without a lost-time injury.
Financial and other terms of the 10-year extension for the FPSO, which has a 100% Indonesian crew, were not divulged. However, local media reported that the charter was at a lower rate than previously.
“By leveraging a more efficient asset rental structure, the project drastically [floater extension] optimises the economics of key satellite developments, including the Hidayah, Barokah and Bukit Panjang fields,” Bob S Effendi, co-founder of consultancy Xpert Synergy Solution said in a LinkedIn post.
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