Kambuna field output reaches DCQ
Wednesday, May 12 2010 - 02:52 AM WIB
?The Kambuna field, offshore North Sumatra, reached full DCQ in April before subsequently being reduced to 20 MMscfd for a period of two weeks to enable maintenance work to be completed on one of the pipelines. This maintenance work has since been completed and the pipeline is now fully operational,? the company said.
Average daily production during May to date has been 16,500 boepd and on 6 May the Group produced a record daily volume of 19,800 boepd, it said.
The major achievement of first production from the Kambuna field occurred in Q3 2009. Following the mechanical completion and commissioning of all facilities, initial production started on 5 August, with gas and condensate being delivered to the onshore receiving facilities at Pangkalan Brandan, north Sumatra. Commercial sales began on 11 August, with gas being introduced to the pipeline system for transportation to the Belawan Power Plant. This event provided the Company with its first significant production revenue.
Shortly after gas sales commenced, production from Kambuna was suspended at the request of the then sole buyer, the State electricity generator PT PLN, so that it could carry out repairs to its gas turbines. After a six week shutdown, production from the field restarted on 7 November.
The gas sales contract with PLN provides for an average contract quantity of 35 mmscfd for the first twelve months and it has already been demonstrated that rates in excess of this can be delivered through the installed, temporary, processing facilities. Following the unplanned shut-down, it is expected that in 2010 PLN will nominate larger quantities of gas in order to reduce its potential annual take or pay liability.
Gas sales to the second buyer, Pertiwi Nusantara Resources are contracted to commence in the first quarter 2010 at a rate of 12 mmscfd. Additionally a contract has been agreed with a division of Pertamina to extract LPG from the sales gas stream, which would require a boost in production of around 10% to maintain the contracted deliveries to the other customers. However, until the permanent onshore processing facility is completed in 2Q 2010, the maximum total gas sales rate will be approximately 40 mmscfd, with about 4,000 barrels of condensate per day.
The Kambuna gas is used for power generation to supply electricity to the city of Medan in north Sumatra and for industrial uses. The gas sales prices per thousand standard cubic feet under the contracts with PLN and Pertiwi are approximately US$5.40 and $7.00 respectively, escalated at 3% per annum. (denny)