Mubadala Petroleum said that it had started production at its Nong Yao oilfield in the Gulf of Thailand and expects its output in the province to double this year.
The field is one of seven offshore Thailand blocks in which Mubadala Petroleum has an interest, and one of three that it currently operates there.
Mubadala Petroleum, the international oil and gas exploration unit of Mubadala Development, is one of the largest players in the offshore Thai oil province.
The company said that Nong Yao, which is part of the G11/48 concession, lying 165 kilometres off Thailand’s coast, is expected to peak at a rate of 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day as more wells are completed and the oil will be sold into the domestic Thai market.
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, the chief executive of Mubadala Petroleum said: “Nong Yao follows on the heels of the Manora field which started production in November 2014 and is currently producing at its peak rate of approximately 15,000 boepd.
With three fields producing in Thailand – Jasmine, Manora and now Nong Yao – our gross production in Thailand will reach around 40,000 boepd during the second half of 2015 … more than double the rate from a year ago and will make us Thailand’s second largest producer of black oil.”
Nong Yao, in which Mubadala has a 67.5 per cent stake, has estimated recoverable reserves of about 12 million barrels. Partners Kris Energy and Palang Sophon have stakes of 22.5 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
The company said yesterday that to date it had invested US$320 million in the Nong Yao field.
Mubadala still has unresolved problems with its partners in the Manora field, which has estimated reserves of up to 20 million barrels.
The company, which owns 60 per cent of Manora, was earlier this year dragged into a bitter dispute between its minority partners, the Thai businessman Chatchai Yenbamroong and the management of Sydney-listed Tap Oil, in which Mr Yenbamroong also is a shareholder.
The row has resulted in default and counter-default notices, and the process may result in Mubadala having to meet a greater share of the expenses involved in Manora and taking a greater share of the field.
The South East Asia region is one of the most important for Mubadala, and the company also has offshore interests in maritime territory of Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Although the company does not report financial results, its parent reported in its annual results in April that Mubadala Petroleum took a Dh1.9 billion charge for impairment of assets in South East Asia and the Middle East, reflecting the lower income expected from those oil and gasfields because of the 50 per cent drop in oil prices since last June.
amcauley@thenational.ae
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