January 16, 2024
JAKARTA – Indonesia is aiming to have 15 oil and gas projects come on stream this year, as the country eyes more investment in the sector.
The Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) said on Friday that the 15 projects were expected to cost US$560 million in capital expenditure. They are projected to generate a total of 41,922 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 324 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas.
Among the 15 projects are Medco E&P Natuna’s Forel-Bronang project in the South Natuna Block, Riau, and Exxon Mobil Cepu’s Banyu Urip Infill Clastic project in Bojonegoro, East Java, with the two having oil-production capacities of 10,000 bopd and 30,000 bopd, respectively.
Read also: Rate of Indonesia oil production decline has slightly improved: SKK Migas
SKK Migas head Dwi Soetjipto said the government had put in place incentives to encourage oil and gas contractors to shift their exploration to fields with large potential reserves to increase the likelihood of more giant discoveries.
A giant oil field contains at least 500 million barrels of oil.
“If we don’t shift, we will keep seeing small discoveries around production working areas. We [SKK Migas] are pushing for a shift from small to medium or medium to large [fields],” he told a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.
Dwi pointed to the Layaran and Geng North exploration projects operated by the United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala Energy and Italy’s ENI, respectively, as examples of the giant discoveries that the agency is hoping to see more of this year.
Geng North, located in the North Ganal working area in East Kalimantan for instance, boasts an estimated 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.
The agency has scheduled the project to go onstream in 2027, saying that fulfilling the target would set an “excellent” example for future deepwater projects, which implies exploration projects of more than 152 meters in depth.
The plan of development for the project, which comprises an outline of a comprehensive strategy to exploit the field, is scheduled for completion in mid-2024.
SKK Migas undersecretary for exploitation Wahju Wibowo said that since Geng North’s discovery a lot of companies had become interested in deepwater projects in Kalimantan.
Currently, there are five projects there that are expected to go onstream from 2026 to 2028, according to Wahju.
We hope [the project] can go onstream in 2027 because it [will show the world] that Indonesia can get a deepwater project onstream just three to four years after discovery,” he said at the same event on Friday.
Read also: SKK Migas eyes output boost after ‘giant’ gas discovery
Indonesia’s oil and gas investment in 2023 amounted to $13.7 billion, up 13 percent year on year from $12.1 billion, according to SKK Migas.
The figure fell short of the $15.56 billion target set for last year, which the agency said was hindered by safety stand-downs in development well drilling, rigs and labor availability as well as flooding at drilling sites.
SKK Migas, however, believes it can achieve a higher investment amount this year, aiming for a $17.7 billion target in 2024.