Inpex to delineate E. Timor gas field April

Japan firm Inpex Corp. is further delaying delineation drilling program at its Masela offshore block in Timor Sea due to rig unavailability, a BPMIGAS official said on Thursday.

BPMIGAS Exploration Division head Bob Julian told Petromindo.Com that the drilling of four delineation wells would commence in April this year.

He, however, did not say whether Inpex had secured drilling rig for the program.

The Masela Block is located offshore southwest of Tanimbar Island, about 800 kilometers east of Kupang and approximately 400 kilometers north of Darwin, Australia. Inpex operates the block with 100 percent of working interest.

In 2002, Inpex confirmed a large natural gas accumulation in the block after two appraisal wells, Abadi-2 and Abadi-3, tested a total 32.4 million cubic feet a day of natural gas..

Gas reserves at Masela are estimated to be around 4-7 TCF, which could warrant for development of an LNG plant. Report from Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai said in October last year that Inpex will invest US$4 billion to develop LNG plant in Masela, capable of producing 3 MTPA of LNG, with production to seen to begin in 2015. (godang)