ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia successfully installed the topsides of Tapis R offshore platform at the Tapis field offshore Terengganu, Malaysia, local news agency Bernama reported Wedensday. Tapis R -- one of the largest offshore platform in Southeast Asia -- is a key component of the $3.1 billion (MYR 10 billion) Tapis Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project in which ExxonMobil and joint-venture partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd invest in new oil and gas assets to help ensure reliable and sustainable energy supplies for Malaysia. 

"The Tapis EOR project will enhance production from the Tapis field which has been producing since 1978 ... The EOR process will use alternating water and gas injection to improve oil recovery from this mature field over the long-term," ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc President and Chairman of ExxonMobil subsidiaries in Malaysia See Kok Yew said, as quoted by Bernama. The Tapis R topsides was constructed as one large integrated deck, including gas compression and water injection facilities, production-processing equipment, utility systems and living quarters for 145 people. 

The topsides, designed and constructed locally, was fabricated by Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering under a $434 million (MYR 1.4 billion) contract awarded by ExxonMobil in November 2011. The contract also included construction of the Tapis Q riser platform, which was installed in October 2012, and the installation of access bridges linking the new Tapis R and Tapis Q platforms with the existing Tapis B platform. About 31 miles (50 kilometers) of new pipeline were also installed to distribute gas and water injection from Tapis R and to receive full-well stream production from the existing Tapis platforms, while a main oil pipeline was installed to export production from Tapis R. 
Hook-up and commissioning is expected to continue in the next few months at the Tapis R platform to prepare for water-alternating-gas injection activities to start in the third quarter of this year.