THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 4 (UPI) -- There may be as much as 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the shallow waters off the coast of Malaysia, energy company Newfield Exploration said.
Newfield, which has headquarters in Texas, announced it encountered more than 1,500 feet of net natural gas pay at its Block SK 310 production sharing contract area off the Malaysian coast.
The company estimated that gas in-place ranged from 1.5 trillion cubic feet to 3 trillion cubic feet. A nearby discovery has a reserve estimate of around 265 billion cubic feet.
Newfield Chairman Lee Boothby said the larger discovery is its most significant in the company's 25-year history.
Malaysia is No. 3 in the world in terms of exports of liquefied natural gas, behind Qatar and Indonesia.
The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said natural gas consumption in Malaysia as of 2010 reached 1.1 trillion cubic feet per year, about 42 percent of what it produces.
Newfield joins companies like Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Lundin Petroleum in finding success offshore Malaysia.
Malaysia overall has around 83 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, the EIA reports.
