Ophir starts 3D seismic survey in Kerendan area
Friday, March 10 2017 - 01:26 AM WIB
UK-based Ophir Energy plc said it has commenced an onshore 3D seismic program in Greater Kerendan area, in Bangkanai PSC, Central Kalimantan with a view to expanding this asset.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that the program comes following approval by Indonesian upstream oil and gas authority SKK Migas of the expansion of the Kerendan asset.
?A significant step forward in monetizing the additional 2C resource in the Kerendan area occurred in late 2016 with SKK Migas approving the West Kerendan-1 expansion plan,? the company said in the statement.
Ophir reiterated this will allow an additional 40 Bcf to be monetized that will grow production by 7 MMscfd from 2019. ?Making further progress on the monetization of the 457 Bcf of gross contingent resource, not covered by the first GSA, is an area of focus for 2017,? it said.
Safe completion of the onshore 3D seismic acquisition program, forecast to complete in the fourth quarter of 2017, is a key step on this pathway, the company said. These data will allow for better definition of the Kerendan field to give greater certainty around resource volumes, which should ultimately lead to SKK Migas approving the sale of additional gas volumes.
Elsewhere, Ophir said the field produced at an average of 768 boepd over the period in 2016 that it was producing, but is expected to ramp up to full contract volume of closer to 20 MMscfd in 2017, providing additional cash flows. ?The offtaker contracted to take 16 MMscfd from 11 January 2016 and, under the take or pay provision in the GSA, a receivable of $17 million has been accrued. This was settled in full in February 2017,? the company said.
Ophir Indonesia (Bangkanai) Ltd holds a 70 percent operating interest in the Bangkanai PSC in Central Kalimantan, and PT Saka Energi Bangkanai Klemantan holds the remaining 30 percent interest.
Meanwhile, Ophir also said that it has completed the preprocessing of existing seismic data over the West Papua IV and Aru licenses which has enabled the company to mature a number of leads to prospects.
Ophir announced in December of last year completion of a 4,000 km2 3D seismic survey in two blocks, namely Aru PSC, offshore Maluku, and West Papua IV PSC, offshore Papua.
Ophir has a 49.9 percent operating interest in the West Papua IV Block and a 60 percent operating interest in the Aru Block covering a gross area of 5,701 km2.
The West Papua IV and Aru Blocks were acquired from Niko Resources Limited in 2015.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak