ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd Becomes Sole Operator

ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd is now the sole operator of the Kebabangan Cluster Production Sharing Contract (KBBC PSC). ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd. is a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, a global energy company. The State Government and the stakeholders signed the new set up on 21 January 2025. Previously, Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Company Sdn Bhd (KPOC) - a joint operating company comprising PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, Shell Energy Asia Limited, and ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd. - operated the KBBC PSC.

The Kebabangan gas field is located 130 km offshore in northwest of Sabah waters, at the South China Sea. The Kebabangan oil field Cluster also includes two other oil fields, the Kamunsu East and the Kamunsu East Upthrown Canyon. The cluster’s deepest water depth is 400 metres. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said Sabah is one of the region’s growing oil and gas investments hubs. .“We look forward to further collaborations in O&G investment with PETRONAS,” he said, on 23 January 2025, at the commemoration of the official transfer of operatorship to ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd. in Kota Kinabalu.

Shell first discovered the Kebabangan field in 1994. The KBBC PSC will strengthen Sabah’s energy security through PSC continuation, domestic market Upstream Gas Sales Agreement (UGSA) enhancement, and a new UGSA introduction to support gas supply to PETRONAS Floating Liquefied Natural Gas 3 (PFLNG-3). The Kebabangan field is estimated to contain two trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas. Three major stakeholders inked a joint-venture agreement to begin production in 2024: Petronas Carigali owns 40% of the Kebabangan oil field Cluster; ConocoPhillips (30%) and Shell (30%).

The Kebabangan field produces 140 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (MBOED) and the gas is transferred by a 135- kilometre undersea pipeline to the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) at Kimanis, southwards of Sabah, where it is pumped through a 500-kilometre pipeline to the Petronas liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex at Bintulu, Sarawak, for further processing.