Malaysia’s frontier basins: the next exploration phase

Malaysia has had considerable success in recent years in licensing new exploration acreage across its core producing basins. From the Majors to small-cap explorers, companies have been attracted by prospectivity, new data and improved shallow-water terms. Now that process is largely complete, the country’s regulator, PETRONAS MPM, is now focusing on acreage in its remaining frontier basins. MPM’s approach so far has been to offer flexible low-cost technical studies alongside new seismic data, but will it be enough?