Overcoming the Challenges of Developing High CO2 Gas Fields with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in Malaysia

Abstract Malaysia’s high CO2 gas fields, discovered as early as the 1970s, present a complex and multifaceted challenge for energy development. Despite the enormous potential of these fields, they stay uneconomically to be developed for over five decades. This paper presents challenges and potential solutions for developing this complex of high CO2 gas fields with carbon capture & sequestration. It highlights a set of technical and commercial challenges that lie in the limitations of current offshore CO2 removal technologies and their sensitivity and inefficiency to cater for variations in CO2 feed concentrations. These inefficiencies lead to hydrocarbon losses, low CO2 purity, and increased storage costs, needing long-term planning to keep consistent flow rates and CO2 concentrations. Additionally, the high capital costs due to corrosion mitigation of a high CO2 fluid, and the need for costly drilling (high number and low flow wells), further reduce economic viability. Scattered marginal fields, increased number of wellhead platforms with long tie-back caused flow assurance (slugging) issues as well as high back pressure, early turn down which reduces ultimate recovery of the reservoir. Different production arrangement contractor (PAC) interface added complexity at satellite wellhead platform. Short field lifespans limit the period for capital recovery, prompting the need for innovative solutions, which could reduce infrastructure costs and extend the life of marginal fields. Subsequently, this paper presents a set of solutions to overcome those issues. To address high capital cost, it proposes an integrated installation campaign and an innovative concept of production facilities (such as redeploy-able wellhead platform and shared processing facility). With this approach, it can significantly reduce capital development costs across multiple fields, as well as the capability for re-deployment to different fields once the original field is depleted. This approach further reduces the incremental cost of the next field development phase. The paper also present integration concept with nearby high CO2 field to provide economic of scale for the high capital CCS development. In summary, this case study highlights the need for an integrated approach, combining advancements in CO2 removal technologies, balancing surface facility design capacity against production recovery, design flow rate, blending, operating philosophy and flexible infrastructure development strategies. Such efforts are essential to unlock the ultimate economic potential of the fields, providing a roadmap for overcoming technical and commercial barriers. Without this balance, the economic potential of the field will remain limited.