TotalEnergies agrees to purchase the remaining 50% of Malaysian upstream operator SapuraOMV

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Sapura Upstream Assets (SUA) to acquire its 50% interest in Malaysian independent gas producer and operator SapuraOMV Upstream.

The $530 million deal, which was announced on Monday, is subject to closing adjustments and is expected to be concluded in the second half of 2024. The move follows a previous, first agreement signed with OMV on January 31 this year to secure the acquisition of its 50% interest in SapuraOMV.

Further penetrating the Malaysian market

Both of the transactions are subject to some conditions precedent, in particular regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the deals, TotalEnergies would own 100% of SapuraOMV, which cites its main assets as a 40% operated interest in block SK408 and 30% operated interest in block SK310, both located offshore Sarawak, Malaysia.

In 2023, SapuraOMV’s operated production (100%) was about 500 Mcf/d of natural gas, feeding the Bintulu LNG plant operated by Petronas, as well as 7 kb/d of condensates. Development of the Jerun gas field, on block SK408, is on track for startup in the second half of this calendar year.

Increasingly significant regional operator

Additionally, SapuraOMV holds interests in exploration licenses in Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. A discovery there was made in 2023, on block 30. Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, highlighted that the transaction with OMV and Sapura Upstream Assets would see TotalEnergies become a “significant gas operator” in Malaysia.

Strategic move

He said: “The SapuraOMV assets are fully in line with our strategy to grow our gas production to meet demand growth, focusing our portfolio on low-cost and low-emission assets. We look forward to strengthening our global partnership with Petronas in Malaysia, a country where we see further development opportunities for our company.”

TotalEnergies owns interests in two PSCs in the exploration phase and signed an agreement in June 2023 with Petronas and Mitsui to develop a carbon storage project in Southeast Asia, as well as to evaluate several CO2 storage sites in the Malay Basin.