As the Operator of Block PM304, Petrofac employed its development expertise to bring the Cendor field on stream in record time and below budget. From a standing start Petrofac submitted the field development plan (FDP) in five months, a record for Malaysia. First oil was achieved on 23 September 2006, just 16 months from sanction.
The Cendor field
The Cendor field was discovered in the 1970s in Block PM304, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. Cendor, having previously been drilled with proven reserves, was classed as marginal due to its complex geological structure and remained undeveloped for 30 years.
Cendor presented a number of geological challenges. The structure has highly stratified formations that are compartmentalised, with different and uncertain production characteristics. Innovative subsurface techniques, particularly on the geophysical side, were applied by Petrofac’s subsurface professionals to achieve a better understanding of the reservoir characteristics.
A flexible approach
Petrofac recognised that the key to development resided in achieving maximum operational flexibility to deal with as many potential reservoir outcomes as possible with the lowest possible cash commitment. A phased approach was therefore adopted to develop the field, with wells brought into production selectively to allow for reservoir testing.
At the heart of the development is the Cendor Producer, a Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU). The unit is leased and provides a flexible and low-cost solution. It is highly adaptable, possessing a deck area sufficient for two first-stage separators as well as a production test unit. The unit also has the capacity to inject up to 25,000 barrels per day of seawater into the reservoir. Oil is pumped to a floating storage offloading (FSO) vessel located 800 metres away via a low-cost flexible composite submarine pipeline.
The development illustrates the effectiveness of Petrofac’s partnership approach. By aligning itself with its customers through investment, Petrofac has committed its full range of capabilities, including engineering and construction and operations management, to devise a safe, optimal solution to a challenging asset.
Since first oil was achieved, the Cendor field has produced in excess of 27 million barrels of premium crude. Furthermore, the MOPU asset continues to record world-class uptime as it has done in previous years.
During this early production phase and through appraisal drilling, Petrofac and its partners were able to assess the full extent of the reserves in the Cendor fault block, as well as other reservoirs on Block PM304; resulting in the sanction, in November 2010, of the Cendor phase two facilities, and in February 2012, the West Desaru development.
Cendor Phase Two development
The second phase of development of the Cendor field will involve a larger permanent facility to fully develop the Cendor fault block, comprising two fixed wellhead structures tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
West Desaru development
The third phase of development of the Block PM304 production sharing contract (PSC) will introduce an early production system to accelerate the development using an upgraded MOPU, which will export stabilised crude oil through the existing FSO, and ultimately through the phase two FPSO when it is brought into service.