Offshore Oil & Gas Future Development

Year 2007 to 2009 will be a buzy years for Offshore Constructions Contractor (Those who win the Year 2007 to 2009 contracts in Malaysian water). Major clients are PCSB (Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd.), SSB (Sabah Sarawak Shell Berhad) & EMEPMI (ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc.).

SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad is eyeing for all the works and we yet to know who is winning the bid. SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad is also interested to bid the Turkmenistan Block 1 Development Project (Magtymguly Drilling Platform (MDP-A) Transportation & Installation Services. The works location will be in the Caspian Sea, which is a new gray area for SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad operations.

The Caspian Sea Presents a unique set of issues when it comes to project execution. Several of these issues are;

• The land-locked nature of the sea
• The canals that link the Caspian to open seas routes operate for only a limited time during the year, due to freezing conditions in winter.
• The canals restrict the size of loads that can be transported into the region.
• There is limited construction infrastructure and experience within the Caspian Sea and harly any in Turkmenistan.
• Presence of geological challenges such as extensive shallow gas, seismicity, mud volcanoes, active faults and irregular seabed.

These restrictions and issues presented that infrastructure require to deliver traditional solutions are subject to major uncertainty with regards to availability – RISK !???