SKE signed an agreement with Petronas to provide gas from its B15 gas field, off Sarawak, that was discovered in 2010.

The first delivery of the gas is expected in the fourth quarter of next year.

“The SK310 upstream gas sales agreement marks SKE’s first participation in a gas sales agreement for East Malaysia,” Sapura Kencana Petroleum President Shahril Shamsuddin said in a press release.

According to a report in the Nikkei Asian Review, Sapura Kencana has a 30 per cent participating interest in the project. Petronas subsidiary Petronas Carigali (40 per cent) and Diamond Energy Sarawak (30 per cent), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, own the rest of the shares.

Facilities at the B15 gas development comprise of a central processing platform with a 35km gas evacuation pipeline to be tied to existing infrastructure.

The report also said persistent weak market conditions had forced Sapura Kencana Petroleum to announce a restructuring of its organisation.

It managed to lower corporate costs by up to 50 per cent to about RM300 million, according to Maybank Investment Bank in a recent investor note. It said the company might cut its debt level by RM1 billion per year over the coming years.