Tutuka Ariadji, the Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, visited the Tambun field in Bekasi, West Java Province, on Tuesday to monitor the progress of exploration activities in a bid to find new oil and gas reserves and increase future production.
This field visit is part of a series of monitoring activities following a visit to LPG refineries in West Java, focusing on monitoring field development to enhance national oil and gas production and commercialize natural gas from the Tambun field, which is operated by PT Pertamina EP (PEP), a unit of state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.
“We must accelerate and increase oil and gas production in order to reduce fuel imports by optimizing exploration activities through reservoir management,” said Tutuka in a statement on Tuesday (9/4/2024).
He emphasized the importance of reservoir management to ensure effective and efficient exploration activities. This effort aims to discover new oil and gas fields to increase oil and gas production in the PEP Tambun field.
Acting Director of PEP, Ibnu Suhartanto, provided insights into the performance and potential development of oil and gas exploration fields, including the current production status of the Tambun field. "In the first week of April 2024, the Tambun field recorded oil production of 1,174 barrels per day (BOPD) and gas production of 29.6 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD)," Ibnu stated.
He also mentioned plans to gather and organize reservoir management data and discuss strategies for accelerating and optimizing oil and gas production with stakeholders. "We will soon engage with stakeholders, including SKK Migas," he added, referring to the upstream oil and gas authority.
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PEP announced in December of last year new hydrocarbon discoveries in two West Java wells: East Pondok Aren (EPN)-001 in the Tambun field, Bekasi Regency; and East Akasia Cinta (EAC)-001 in the Jatibarang field, Indramayu Regency.
The EPN-001 well, initiated on August 18, 2023, targeted the Carbonate Reservoir of the Lower Cibulakan Formation. It achieved a successful flow of oil and gas during the second DST, registering an oil rate of 402 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and a gas rate of 1.09 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) at a depth of 2,590 meters below mean sea level.
Muharram Jaya Panguriseng, the Exploration Director of PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), the parent of PEP, said in February that PEP is set to fast-track the development of newly discovered EPN-001 well in Tambun Field.
“Our hope is to commence a second drilling operation by the end of 2024, followed by a Determination of Exploration Status (PSE). We also aim to finalize the development plan (Plan Of Development/PoD) within three years to enable immediate production,” he stated on 6 February.
Muharram is confident about the economic viability of the oil and gas discovery in Bekasi. Pertamina has identified a recoverable potential of 43 million barrels of oil equivalent. However, the production could be significantly higher given the substantial initial oil volume in place.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
