Lapindo Brantas completes workover program at Wunut well

By Bernard Loebs

Lapindo Brantas Inc. has completed the workover program at Wunut-19 (WNT-19) and is currently carrying out a similar program at WNT-4 in Wunut field, Brantas PSC located in Wunut village, Porong district, Sidoarjo regecy, East Java province.

The workover program at WNT-19 and WNT-4 wells ran smoothly without any accident, SKK Migas? Chief Representative for Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, M. Fatah Yasin, said.

Thanks to the workover, WNT-19, which is around 1.5 km from the center of mudflow, is now flowing oil. A pump jack is being installed there with production estimate to reach 50-100 bpd. Meanwhile, as a result of the workover, WNT-4 is expected to produce 2 mmscfd. WNT-4 has stopped gas production since 2011.

Aside from servicing WNT-19 and WNT-4, Lapindo plans to service three other wells, including WNT-16 in the near future. Based on plan, the well which is located in Ciken village, Tanggulangin district, will start being serviced in end-August. The well is expected to produce 2 mmscfd.

Thanks to the workover program, Wunut field is expected to be able to produce 30 mmscfd, from 5 mmscfd at present. Ten years ago, prior to the start of mudflow incident, the field was able to produce up to 80 mmscfd.

The firm has 26 wells in Sidoarjo, five of which are located Tanggulangin field (TGA) and 21 wells in Wunut. Only 14 of them are still in production, namely three wells in Tanggulangin, 11 wells in Wunut.

At end-2015, the firm applied for a permit to drill two wells in Tanggulangin but the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources rejected the request on the grounds the wells are located not far ? about 2.5 km away -- from the well that became the source of the mudflow.

The mudflow incident occurred in 2006, following drilling activities carried out by Lapindo, inundating thousands of houses, and forcing families to leave the area. According to Wikipedia, It is the biggest mud volcano in the world; responsibility for it was credited to the blowout of a natural gas well drilled by Lapindo, although some scientists and company officials contend it was caused by a distant earthquake.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon