KUCHING, Feb 24 — The state government will hold a discussion with state-owned oil and gas giant Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) on the discovery of two gas fields off Sarawak shores, the Chief Minister’s Office said in a statement today.

"The discussion will be based on the terms of the commercial settlement agreement that will bring about greater benefits to both Sarawak and Petronas,” the office said.

It said the state government has been duly notified by Petronas of the finding of the two gas fields, namely the Lang Lebah-2 exploration appraisal well in Block SK410B in Central Luconia Province as announced a fortnight ago, and Dokong -1 in Block DSK417 as announced today.

Bangkok-based PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), through its wholly-owned subsidiary PTTEP HK Offshore Limited (Malaysia Branch) or PTTEP HKO, announced in a statement of a successful gas discovery from the first exploration well, Dokong-1 in Block SK417, off the coast of Sarawak.

The drilling of the Dokong-1 exploration well commenced in November 2020, targeting gas in the sandstone reservoir.

The well was drilled to a total depth of 3,810 metres and encountered more than 80 metres of gas column.

"The finding of potential high-quality gas at the Dokong-1 exploration well is PTTEP’s latest achievement in Malaysia following first gas production from Block H and a major gas discovery at SK410B’s Lang Lebah field,”PTTEP chief executive officer Phongsthorn Thavisin said.

Block SK417 is located in shallow waters, approximately 90 kilometres off the coast of Sarawak.

PTTEP HKO is the operator with 80 percent participating interest and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd holds the rest.

On February 10, PTTEP, through PTTEP HKO, successfully completed the Lang Lebah-2 appraisal well in the Sarawak SK 410B Project.

 The drilling result registered a new record for PTTEP’s largest gas discovery.

Phongsthorn disclosed that the appraisal drilling at the Lang Lebah structure followed the gas discovery of its first exploration well, Lang Lebah-1RDR2, in 2019.

The appraisal well Lang Lebah-2 was completed in mid-January 2021.

It was drilled to a total depth of 4,320 meters with proven over 600 meters of net gas pay, indicating a larger reservoir than the initial estimate.

 The well test shows a flow rate of 50 million cubic feet of gas per day.

"We are delighted to confirm the largest-ever gas discovery by PTTEP,” he said.

The Sarawak SK 410B Project is located approximately 90 kilometers off Sarawak, Malaysia.

PTTEP HKO is the operator with 42.5 per cent participating interest while KUFPEC Malaysia Limited and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd hold 42.5 per cent and 15 per cent participating interests respectively.