KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): National oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has exited the Bertam field project after offering its 25% stake in the project free of charge to International Petroleum Corp (IPC).

According to IPC's results announcement for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) on Wednesday, it had acquired an additional 25% interest in the field on the withdrawal of its partner and Petronas’ wholly-owned unit Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, resulting in IPC’s interest in the field increasing to 100% effective April 10.

“No consideration was paid by IPC for this additional interest, and IPC agreed to assume minimal further future well-decommissioning obligations estimated at around MUSD 1.0.

"Current net Bertam field production acquired is in excess of 1,250 bopd (barrels of oil per day). Our commercial interest in the Bertam FPSO (floating production storage and offloading unit) remains unchanged at 100%,” it said.

The Bertam field is located offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

Previously, IPC held a controlling interest in the project with a 75% stake, with Petronas Carigali holding the rest.

According to Reuters, IPC is a Canada-based spin-off company for the non-Norwegian assets of Lundin Petroleum AB.