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new drilling techniques to access Brunei’s
complicated underground reservoirs.
When the Champion West field was
discovered in 1975, engineers simply couldn’t
figure out an economic way to develop it,
and it lay untapped for 25 years. Hundreds
of small oil and gas accumulations in thin
reservoirs made it uneconomic to develop.
By inventing techniques to overcome this
challenge, BSP became one of the most
technically advanced oil and gas companies
in the world.
Today, Champion West still demonstrates
BSP’s leadership in two key technology areas:
“snake wells” and “smart fields” that have
become standard in the industry. The snake
well design created in 2001 by BSP provided
a solution to improve reservoir access: the
well was designed to weave to several
pockets of oil and gas that would otherwise
be uneconomic to access. Combined with
smart technology, a single snake well can
access multiple pockets of oil and achieve
output equivalent to several individual
wells – reducing cost and ensuring no oil
is overlooked. Champion West field is the
longest in Brunei exceeding eight kilometres
in length.
BSP’ssmartfieldsintegratedigitalinformation
technology with the latest drilling, seismic
and reservoir monitoring techniques. Smart
Fields can help increase the total amount
of oil recovered from a field by 10 per cent
and gas recovery by five per cent, while also
boosting the rate of production.
BSP: 90 years and beyond
Brunei Darussalam has been a pioneer in oilfield
technology since the very start of the oil and
gas business. The nation has forged an enduring
partnership with Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) that reaches
back 90 years – and it is firmly set on fuelling Brunei’s
future too. Shell and the Government of Brunei are
both shareholders in Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP).
BSP has developed into by far the largest oil and gas
company in the country, boasting a diverse and highly-
qualified skill pool of around 4,000 employees and
more than 20,000 contractors. BSP’s core activities
include exploring and producing oil and gas from
onshore and offshore fields for domestic use and
export to international markets.
The discovery of the Seria oilfield in 1929, Asia’s
longest producing oilfield, and an abundance of oil and
gas, has fuelled most of Brunei’s rapid development.
Thanks to this natural wealth, the country has one
of the highest standards of living in the world where
its people have access to free healthcare, a well-
established state education system and affordable
housing.
That giant oilfield alone produced one billion barrels
of oil equivalent by 1991, an achievement marked by
a distinctive monument, officiated by His Majesty
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah
ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien
Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan
of Brunei Darussalam. BSP’s production since the early
days came on the back of a string of “made in Brunei”
innovations used in dozens of fields.
Technology firsts – of snakes and dragons
Energy is vital to our daily lives. BSP has built a long-
term track record as a “company of firsts” to supply
energy, and has been leading the global industry along
the way. Their engineers have consistently invented