Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline reaches 85% completion

With 85% already completed, the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) project in Borneo is now in its final phase. The multi-billion infrastructure project is expected to be ready by the Q1 2013.

“We estimate the gas to start flowing by April next year if everything goes as planned,” SSGP Senior Project Manager Shaiful Bahrin Hashim confirmed recently.

“The length of the pipeline is 94 km in Sabah and 427 km in Sarawak, and involves more than 3000 workers, half of whom were recruited [locally].”

In total, there are seven SSGP camps along the 521 km route: Camp 1 Beaufort, Sabah; Camp 2, Lawas; Camp 3, Merarap; Camp 4, Limbang; Camp 6, Long Lapok; Camp 7, Niah; and Camp 8, Bintulu. Shaiful added native customary rights (NCR), land claims, land compensation, requests for community projects and rough terrain were all among the challenges faced by this project.

The project comprised several 36 in., 12 m long stainless steel pipes welded, buried 1 m deep in the ground for safety purposes, with visible above ground blow valve stations every 20 km.

Shaiful and Petronas Sarawak Regional Office (PSRO) Senior Executive for Corporate Affairs Suffian Sabeli recently hosted a two day media familiarisation trip of the SSGP project.

When first proposed in 2006, it was reported that the project would cost RM 4.6 billion. The project commenced in 2008, as part of the Sabah-Sarawak integrated oil and gas project to harness oil and gas resources offshore East Malaysia.

The project is anticipated to increase economic growth as well as development in infrastructure and technology for both states, especially for rural communities living close to the pipeline.

Edited from various sources by Cecilia Rehn

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/27032012/sabah-sarawak_gas_pipeline_in_asia_enters_its_final_phase/