Japan’s JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (JX Nippon) sealed the deal when Petronas approved the field development plan (FDP) for the Beryl gas field on Oct 27, 2017.

This was revealed in a statement by JX Nippon president and chief executive officer Shunsaku Miyake yesterday.

Beryl lies in the same location as the underlying Helang Gas Field and Layang Oil and Gas Field in Block SK10, Offshore Sarawak, for which JX Nippon’s subsidiary JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (Malaysia) Limited (Noma) has been the operator.

The Sarawak-based daily reported that the Beryl gas field had been long discovered but just not developed.

“The peak production of natural gas from Beryl is estimated to be around 140 million standard cubic feet per day – equivalent to 23,000 boed (barrels of oil equivalent a day),” Miyake said.

The local arm of the Japanese firm  will utilise existing Helang facilities to develop Beryl economically and within a short period of time.

“The produced gas from Beryl, together with natural gas from Helang and Layang, will be supplied through sub-sea pipelines to the MLNG Tiga Sdn Bhd liquefaction plant in Bintulu, Sarawak,” Miyake said.

According to the Borneo Post, JX Nippon is also one of the shareholders of MLNG Tiga Sdn Bhd.

The natural gas is expected to be sold as liquefied natural gas to international customers, including those from Japan.