Bertam Oilfield

Bertam oilfield is located within the PM307 production sharing contract (PSC) area, 160km off the shore of Kuantan in Peninsular Malaysia, at a water depth of approximately 76m. The oilfield is estimated to hold gross reserves of 18.4 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The field development plan (FDP) for Bertam was approved by Petronas in September 2013. The FDP for the marginal field integrates an unmanned wellhead platform (WHP) tied to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Lundin’s Ikdam FPSO, which formerly operated at the abandoned Oudna oil field, was modified for operations at the Bertam field.

Lundin Petroleum acquired a 75% interest and operatorship in Block PM307, covering an area of approximately 6,126km², from Petronas Carigali in June 2011. The latter holds the remaining 25% interest in the block. It is Lundin Petroleum’s first offshore development project in south-east Asia.

First oil from Bertam was achieved on 5 April 2015 and peak production of 15,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) is expected to be reached in the same year. The field’s production life is estimated to be ten years.

Bertam field discovery

The Bertam offshore oilfield was discovered by Petronas Carigali in 1995 with the drilling of the Bertam-1 well. It encountered oil in the K10 sandstone reservoir and flowed 34° API oil at a rate of 624 barrels a day during the production test. A 3D seismic acquisition programme covering an area of 2,100km² on the block was completed in 2011.

A further appraisal of the field was completed in January 2012. The Bertam-2 appraisal well was drilled to a total depth of 1,884m to test the oligocene lower coastal plain sandstones. The well flowed at 756 barrels of oil per day (bopd) during the production test.

Bertam oilfield development details

The field is being developed using the 20-slot Bertam WHP connected to the upgraded Ikdam FPSO. The subsurface development concept included 14 horizontal wells fitted with electric submersible pumps (ESPs).

The development cost, excluding that of the FPSO modification, is estimated to be approximately $400m. The budget sanctioned for the field’s development in 2015 is $180m.

The installation of the Bertam WHP jacket was completed in May 2014, while that of the topsides was completed in October 2014. Development drilling at the field started in the third quarter of 2014 employing Seadrill’s West Prospero jack-up rig. Three pilot wells, including two horizontal sections, were successfully completed by December 2014.

Contractors involved with the Malaysian offshore oilfield development

The conceptual planning for the project was performed by Genesis. The FPSO upgrade contract was awarded to Keppel Shipyard Singapore in September 2013. The process design for the FPSO’s skid-based equipment was provided by Kavin Engineering.

Rockwool Technical Insulation supplied SeaRox SL 620 fire-safe and SeaRox SL 740 comfort insulation materials for the FPSO. The oil in water (OIW) analyser for the Bertam FPSO was supplied by Asia Technology & Engineering (ATE).

The fabrication contract for the Bertam WHP was awarded to THHE Engineering in November 2013 and the first steel for the platform was cut in December 2013. The hook-up, commissioning and maintenance services for the WHP were provided by PBJV Group, a subsidiary of Barakah Offshore Petroleum.

THHE awarded the contract for the supply of the WHP’s process valves to Kumpulan Agresiv. The passive fire protection systems for the WHP were supplied by Jurunature. A study on the corrosion effect of the FPSO and the WHP was completed by Schmitec in June 2013.