Industry watchers believe Petronas may be in the market to acquire a stake in Indonesia's D-Alpha gas exploration area, which is 34 per cent owned by Pertamina and controlled by ExxonMobil Corp.
Staying in Malaysia, oil companies have scheduled to drill 35 exploration wells offshore Malaysia this year, steady from 37 in 2001, according to oil information services, IHS Energy Group. Ten wells alone are planned for deepwater areas by Royal Dutch/Shell Group and U.S. Murphy Oil Corp. Changes in terms to production sharing contracts is helping the country maintain its high drilling rates, according to analysts.
