CAPITAL: Bandar Seri Begawan
MONETARY UNIT: Dollar
REFINING CAPACITY: 8,600 b/cd
OIL PRODUCTION: 135,600 b/d
OIL RESERVES: 1.35 billion b/d
GAS RESERVES: 13.8 tcf
Elf Aquitaine unit Elf Petroleum Asia started gas and condensate production in Maharaja-Lela field off Brunei.
Operator Elf held a 37.5% interest in the field, in 70 m of water on Brunei`s Block B.
The field was developed with two unmanned platforms tied back by an 85-km multiphase pipeline to an onshore terminal at Lumut. Initial production was 105 MMcfd of gas and 2,000 b/d of liquids.
The gas was delivered to the Brunei LNG gas plant, and liquids went to the Seria terminal for export.
Maharaja-Lela, the first field Elf operated in Asia, was brought on stream in less than 2 years at a cost of $250 million. Meanwhile, Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd. let a $100 million contract for design and construction of a compression plant for an LNG complex at Lumut.
The plant was slated to come on stream in mid-2002. It would consist of a slug catcher and three 22-Mw compressor sets.

