Tapis EOR

Tapis EOR Oil Field Project Profile

The Tapis EOR oil field is located offshore Peninsular Malaysia, approximately 190 kilometres off the coast of Terengganu, at a water depth of 64 metres.

The Tapis EOR project is Malaysia's first large-scale enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project and one of the largest offshore EOR projects in Southeast Asia.
The project involves the use of the immiscible water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection technique to recover remaining oil reserves from the Tapis field.

The project is operated by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., with ExxonMobil and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) each holding a 50% participating interest.

The Tapis oil field was discovered in 1969, and production began in 1978 from the Tapis A platform. Over the years, additional platforms (Tapis B, C, D, E, and F) were brought online.
In June 2009, a new Production Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed between ExxonMobil, PETRONAS, and PCSB, which included the Tapis EOR project among other developments for seven oil fields offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

Investment and Scope: The project represents an investment of approximately RM8 billion (around $2.1 billion USD) by ExxonMobil and PCSB. This investment includes major EOR project activities, rejuvenation of facilities, and further development and drilling activities.
Facilities: The main component of the project is the Tapis R central processing platform, which includes a large integrated deck structure with living quarters for 145 personnel. The platform is equipped with 390 million cubic feet per day gas compression and 270,000 barrels per day water injection facilities, along with production-processing equipment and utilities systems. The Tapis R platform was installed using the floatover method for its topsides, a first for ExxonMobil in Malaysia.
Additional Infrastructure: Other new facilities include the Tapis Q riser platform and access bridges linking Tapis Q with Tapis R and the existing Tapis B platform. A 50-kilometre network of in-field pipelines and undersea cables was also installed to enable gas and water injection and full well stream production.

The project utilizes the water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection technique, where water and gas are injected alternately into the reservoir to improve sweeping efficiency and recover more oil. This process will be carried out progressively to cover the entire Tapis field over time.
The EOR project aims to sustain the current production level of the Tapis blend crude, a light sweet crude with an API gravity of 45 and 0.03% sulfur content.

Since production began from the field in 1978, approximately 400 million barrels of oil have been produced. The EOR project is expected to recover an additional significant amount of oil, with remaining recoverable reserves estimated at around 20.62 million barrels as of 2023.
The production from the Tapis EOR field was reported to be around 109.5 million barrels per year in 2018.

The project has recorded about 24 million total workhours through its various phases without any lost-time injuries, reflecting ExxonMobil’s strong commitment to safety excellence.

The project involved several local contractors, including MMHE (Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering) for the construction of the integrated deck and other platforms, Sapurakencana for the fabrication of the Tapis-R jacket, and Anggerik Laksana for the topsides of Platforms Q and R.

The Tapis EOR project began operations in September 2014, with the startup of water-alternating-gas injection from the Tapis R central processing platform into targeted wells on the existing Tapis A platform.
The project is currently operating, with ongoing modifications and retrofit work on the existing Tapis platforms to expand the WAG process coverage to the entire field.