KrisEnergy (Apsara) Co Ltd signed a conditional letter of award with PT Profab for the supply of a minimum facilities wellhead “mini-platform” for the Apsara oilfield – Cambodia’s maiden oil development – its Singapore-based parent company KrisEnergy Ltd said on Wednesday.
The move is a step towards KrisEnergy’s plans to extract its first drop of oil from Block A, which it operates, by the middle of next year.
The scope of the work covers key procurement and the fabrication and construction of the jacket, topsides and other related accessories for the mini-platform, including full pre-commissioning and loading it onto a barge for transportation, KrisEnergy said. The work will be undertaken at Profab’s facility on Batam Island, Indonesia.
The Apsara oilfield in Cambodia’s offshore Block A lies over the Khmer Basin, an unproduced geological area in Cambodian waters in the Gulf of Thailand, the firm said.
Due to the unproven production performance of the basin, development of the Apsara area will be carried out in several phases to mitigate risk and provide time for the collection and analysis of critical data to be applied in future phases, KrisEnergy said.
“This development phase, Mini Phase 1A, comprises the mini-platform and five initial development wells connected to the Ingenium II production barge for oil, gas and water processing. Shuttle tankers will transport crude oil from the barge.
“Apsara oil is scheduled to flow in the first half of 2020, and the field is expected to reach a peak rate of 7,500 barrels of oil per day,” it said.
Kelvin Tang, the CEO and president of KrisEnergy’s Cambodian operations, said Mini Phase 1A forms an integral part of the original Phase 1A plan, which includes a larger platform, 20 wells, a production barge, floating storage and an offloading vessel.
“Mini Phase 1A simplifies development, with a smaller platform, fewer wells and the use of lower cost leased shuttle tankers, and it will allow us to observe reservoir performance efficiently and effectively to evaluate the long-term potential of the Apsara field.
“We have completed a vast array of background preparations to bring all elements of the development together in the shortest possible timeframe,” Tang said.
KrisEnergy investor relations and corporate communications vice-president Tanya Pang told The Post on Wednesday that the conditional letter of award is for the Apsara oil platform.
Profab will fabricate and construct the jacket – the legs of the platform – and the topsides for the Apsara mini-platform, she said.
“Once constructed, it will be sailed out to the Apsara oilfield location, where it will be installed and hooked up to the production barge, with the development wells drilled.
“This is the first phase of Apsara development and is designed to produce the Apsara field and monitor the reservoir performance in the most efficient and effective way before we progress to the further development of the Apsara area.
“As it states in the announcement, Apsara oil is scheduled to flow in the first half of 2020,” Pang said.
Cambodia Block A covers 4,709sq km in the Gulf of Thailand over the Khmer Basin and is approximately 150km off the Kingdom’s shores, with water depths ranging from 50-80m.
