Shell has brought on stream its Timi sweet gas field development on Block SK 318 offshore Sarawak, Malaysia.

The offshore field is designed to produce up to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of gas at peak and will evacuate its gas through a new 80-kilometre pipeline to Shell’s F23 production hub. The project supports future growth in the central Luconia area, off the coast of Sarawak, East Malaysia, noted the operator.

Malaysia’s national energy company Petronas confirmed that the Timi field had achieved first gas on 22 August.

Installed in a water depth of around 143 metres, Timi is Malaysia’s deepest fixed platform to date. Both the topsides and substructure were fabricated locally by lead contractor Brooke Dockyard and Engineering Works, while compatriot Sapura Energy installed the platform.

Greener solutions

Timi features Shell’s first wellhead platform in Malaysia that is powered by a solar and wind hybrid power system. The operator said the unmanned platform is more cost efficient, as a result of it being around 60% lighter in weight, than a conventional tender-assisted drilling wellhead platform that relies on oil and gas for power.

“Timi demonstrates we are delivering more value with less emissions,” said Zoe Yujnovich, Shell’s integrated gas and upstream director.

“Bringing the project online is also an example of our focus on performance, discipline and simplification. It shows our ability to innovate and deliver safe, reliable and sustainable projects that support a balanced energy transition for Malaysia.”

The Block SK 318 production sharing contract partners are operator Sarawak Shell on 75%, Malaysia’s national upstream company Petronas Carigali with 15% and Brunei Energy Exploration having 10%.

“We are pleased that Shell was able to optimise the development of Timi, a platform capable of producing up to 300 million standard cubic feet per day using less than 5kW of continuous power generation,” commented Petronas senior vice president of Malaysia Petroleum Management, Mohamed Firouz Asnan.

“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Block SK318 Contractors and their service providers, who persevered in completing the project within the short period of two years since FID during the period which coincided with the recovery post Covid-19 pandemic. This achievement would not have been possible without the strong support of the Sarawak State Government – a true embodiment of the spirit of collaboration that exists in Malaysia’s upstream industry,” he added.

Prior to Timi, Shell Malaysia’s first fully solar powered wellhead platform on the Gorek gas field 145 kilometres offshore Malaysia had come on stream in May 2020.

Shell last year took the final investment decision on the Rosmari-Marjoram gas project, also on Block SK 318, which will be the largest integrated offshore and onshore project in Sarawak, which will be primarily powered by renewable energy. The offshore platform will use power from 240 solar panels, while the onshore plant is connected to the Sarawak grid system which is supplied mainly by hydroelectric plants.

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