Pertamina advances Donggi's exploration drilling campaign

State oil and gas firm Pertamina said Wednesday that exploration drillings at its Maleo offshore well and Sukamaju-1 onshore well in Central Sulawesi's Matindok block had reached the depth of 2,000 meters and 2,400 meters respectively.

The depth target of Maleo's drilling was 2,600 meters, while the depth target of Sukamaju-1's drilling was 3,000 meters, Amril Adnan, Pertamina's senior manager for new ventures, told Petromindo.com.

"The casing of the Maleo well has been completed," Amril said.

Amril did not say when the drilling campaign started and how much time would be required to complete the work.

The two wells were among the eight exploration wells Pertamina had planned to drill at Matindok block, he said.

Pertamina officials said earlier that the drilling of Maleo and Sukamaju-1 was meant to increase Matindok's proven reserves to 8 trillion cubic feet and speed up the marketing and exploitation of the block's gas reserves.

Matindok, which is jointly operated by Pertamina and PT Exspan Nusantara, comprises Donggi and Senoro-Toili blocks.

Pertamina has planned to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Donggi and export the commodity to United States. (Godang)