This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 5, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd’s (SK Petro) unit, SapuraKencana Energy Inc (SKE), has secured a field development plan approval from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for the SK310 B15 gas field development in Sarawak.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the oil and gas services provider and operator said with this approval, SKE will commence the development phase of the project and the first gas delivery is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2017.

“The B15 field, which was discovered in December 2010, is located within the SK310 production-sharing contract (PSC) area, offshore Sabah and Sarawak.

“The development will comprise a central processing platform, with a 35km gas evacuation pipeline to be tied into the existing infrastructure,” said SK Petro.

The B15 field is expected to produce 100 million standard cu ft per day of hydrocarbon gas for Petronas’ liquefied natural gas complex in Bintulu.

SKE, via SapuraKencana Energy Sarawak Inc, is the operator of the SK310 PSC with a 30% participating interest. The other partners are Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd with a 40% stake and Diamond Energy Sarawak Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp, at 30%.

Shares in SK Petro went up one sen or 4.63% to close at its two-month high of RM2.26 yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM13.54 billion.