Indonesia discovers gas source off Balikpapan coast

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – A subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas enterprise Pertamina, Pertamina Hulu Mahakam, has discovered a natural gas source in the Manpatu-1x exploration well located off the coast of Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan province.

Vice President of Exploration for Pertamina Hulu Energi Kalimantan Region, Bayu Giriansyah, said this was the first discovery for Indonesia at the beginning of 2022.

“The drilling started on October 20, 2021 using Rig Hakuryu-14, reaching a depth of 3,776.4 meters on December 9, 2021, and succeeded in finding oil and gas hydrocarbon layers with a total net pay thickness of 207 meters in the Sepinggan Delta Sequence and Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence with excellent reservoir quality,” Bayu said in a press statement received here on Wednesday (Jan. 5).

Manpatu-1x is an exploration well in the South Mahakam area in the waters off the coast of Balikpapan.

This new gas source is an exploration discovery in existing oil and gas fields, so that monetization could be done by tie-in to the nearest available field facility.

The first flow test work on the drill stem test/DST-1 was carried out on January 3, 2022 at the main target reservoir with a gas rate of 15 million standard cubic feet per day and condensate of 500 barrels per day.

Apart from the main target, Pertamina has also identified a reservoir zone in the Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence which its flow test will soon be carried out.

Meanwhile, President Director of Pertamina Hulu Energi for Kalimantan Region, Chalid Said Salim, said that the gas source discovery from this exploration well was one of the achievements of the company’s strategy in increasing reserves and maintaining oil and gas production through exploration and exploitation drillings.

The new discovery is a form of Pertamina’s real commitment to meeting Indonesia’s energy needs and increasing national oil and gas reserves in order to reach the national production target of 1 million barrels of oil per day and 12 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day by 2030.

Reporting by Indonesia Window