Rotan

Location

The Rotan gas field is situated within Block H of the South China Sea, approximately 140 kilometers offshore from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Ownership and Operators

The Block H, where the Rotan field is located, is currently operated by PTTEP Sabah Oil, a subsidiary of Thailand's state-owned PTT Exploration and Production Public Company (PTTEP). PTTEP Sabah Oil holds a 56% interest in the Rotan field. Other stakeholders include PT Pertamina Malaysia Eksplorasi Produksi (24%) and Petronas Carigali (20%), a subsidiary of Petronas.

History and Development

• The Rotan field was discovered in January 2007 by drilling the Rotan No1 exploration well, which encountered substantial natural gas pay in a single zone at a water depth of 3,773 feet.
• Initially, Block H was jointly owned by Murphy Oil (80%) and Petronas (20%). However, in July 2019, PTTEP acquired 100% of Murphy Oil’s business in Malaysia, including the Rotan gas field.
• The front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the PFLNG DUA project commenced in 2012, followed by the final investment decision in February 2014. Construction of the FLNG unit began in 2015 at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje Island, South Korea.

FLNG DUA Facility

• The PFLNG DUA facility is the second FLNG unit owned and operated by Petronas, following the FLNG Satu. It was officially named PFLNG DUA in November 2019.
• The FLNG DUA vessel measures 393 meters long, 64 meters wide, and 31 meters high, with a collective weight of 134,000 tonnes. It is designed to operate in water depths of up to 1,500 meters and has a processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG.
• The vessel is moored using an external turret system and can operate for 20 years without dry-docking. It performs liquefaction, production, offloading, and processing of natural gas.

Contractors and Suppliers

• Key contractors involved include TechnipFMC for the subsea contract, Air Products for the LNG process technology, GE Oil & Gas (now Baker Hughes) for gas turbine generator systems, NGLTech for the Sep-iSYS Inlet Separation System, Heatric for printed circuit heat exchangers, ABB for electrical systems, BASF for the acid gas removal unit process, and SOFEC for the external mooring system.

Production and Operations

• The first production from the Rotan and Buluh fields started in February 2021. The total production from both fields is expected to reach up to 270 million cubic feet a day (mfcd).
• The FLNG DUA facility sailed away from Geoje Island, South Korea, to the Rotan gas field in February 2020 and completed its maiden voyage in March 2020.

Technological and Operational Highlights

• The PFLNG DUA is the world’s first FLNG plant to serve a deepwater gas field at more than 1,000 meters depth.
• The facility uses advanced technologies such as Air Products' proprietary AP-NTM LNG process technology and GE Oil & Gas's gas turbine generator systems to cool natural gas to a liquid state.

This project highlights the innovative use of FLNG technology to develop remote and deepwater gas fields in a cost-effective manner, contributing significantly to Malaysia's energy production.