SapuraKencana Energy (SKE), subsidiary of SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad, has been given the go-ahead by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for the SK310 B15 gas field development project in Malaysia.

Following the approval, SapuraKencana said it would start the development phase for this project with first gas delivery targeted for the fourth quarter of 2017.

The B15 field which was discovered in December 2010 is located within the SK310 Production Sharing Contract (PSC). Block SK310, which has three fields (B15, B14 and B17) is located in water depths of between 50 and 100 meters in the Central Luconia Province, offshore East Malaysia, and covers an area of about 3.460 square kilometers.

The development will comprise a central processing platform with a 35-km gas evacuation pipeline to be tied into the existing infrastructure. The B15 field is expected to produce 100 MMscfd (million standard cubic feet per day) of hydrocarbon gas for PETRONAS’ LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.

SKE via SapuraKencana Energy Sarawak is the operator of the SK310 PSC with a 30% participating interest and partners with Petronas at 40% and Diamond Energy Sarawak, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation at 30%.