KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 12): The Tapis enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project, an equally-owned joint venture between Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and  ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc (EMEPMI), has begun operations.

ExxonMobil President See Kok Yew said in a statement today EOR operations began with "water-alternating-gas" injection from recently installed Tapis R central processing platform to targeted wells of its existing Tapis A facility.

According to See, the water-alternating-gas injection worked "by gradually sweeping remaining oil" to the production well. The process increases the overall collection from the Tapis field, which is located offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

The process works by alternate injection of water and gas to provide "better sweeping efficiency" of the oil reserves, ExxonMobil said.

"This is a historic milestone for Malaysa as it is our country's first large-scale, full-field offshore implementation of water-alternating-gas injection techniques to improve oil recovery, and in parallel, work is being done to rejuvenate existing facilities to extend the life of the Tapis field.

"The Tapis EOR project is one of the largest offshore EOR projects in Southeast Asia, representing an RM8 billion investment by ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partner PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) to help ensure reliable and sustainable energy supplies for Malaysia," See said.