I understand that the Tapis EOR CPP ITB was sent out to all parties listed under the appropriate PETRONAS SWAC code, as there wasn’t any pre-screening performed. That meant that some parties were invited to bid for a project whose bank guarantee amount was similar to their yearly income.
Taken from the Oil & Gas Journal, dateline 2010-06-10:
ExxonMobil to boost Tapis field production in Malaysia
Eric Watkins, OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, June 10 — ExxonMobil Corp. said its enhanced oil recovery project at Malaysia’s Tapis field will start in 2013, with an estimated gross investment of more than $1 billion, according to a senior company executive.
“This latest contract includes commitments to implement an enhanced oil recovery project at the Tapis field and will be the first ever large-scale project of its kind in Malaysia,” said ExxonMobil senior vice-president Andrew Swiger.
“The Tapis project represents yet another major step forward to develop Malaysia’s full energy potential,” Swiger told the Asia Oil & Gas Conference.
Tapis field is one of seven mature offshore fields that ExxonMobil (78%) and state-owned Petronas (22%) have agreed to develop as part of a 25-year production-sharing contract that was finalized in June 2009.
Under the agreement, which includes provisions for the deployment of EOR and further drilling to boost output, work will be carried out on all seven fields, including Seligi, Guntong, Tapis, Semangkok, Irong Barat, Tebu, and Palas.
The Tapis oil development, which lies 190 km off Terengganu in 64 m of water, produces an extra-light, low-sulfur crude, and once served as the benchmark for pricing oil cargoes in Australia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
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Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 