Pertamina assigned to develop East Natuna block

Courtesy of ESDM

In a bid to help accelerate the development of the East Natuna block in Riau Islands Province, the government has assigned the block to state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, Investor Daily reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan as saying that Pertamina can then seek partners in developing the block.

Director General of Oil and Gas at the ministry IGN Wiratmaja Puja said that Pertamina can ask other members of the existing East Natuna consortium including ExxonMobil and PTT Thailand to participate in the planned project by purchasing the interests in the block from Pertamina.

He said that there has been no distribution of shares among the East Natuna consortium yet. He said that Pertamina will propose to the government the ownership distribution in the East Natuna block after business to business discussions with the other consortium members.

Pertamina Upsream Director Syamsu Alam said earlier that the company was still in the process of completing the technology and market review of the planned development of the East Natuna block, expected to be completed in 2018, after which the consortium will decide the next steps.

He added that the high carbon dioxide content in the East Natuna block has made the project to be more complex both in terms of technology and commercial.

The East Natuna block, formerly called D-Alpha, is estimated to hold up to 200 tcf of gas reserve, the largest gas reserve ever found in Indonesia. However, only 46 tcf of the gas is said to be recoverable due the high CO2 element contained in the reserve.

In the early phase, the consortium aims to accelerate oil production with a target of 7,000-15,000 bopd once the PSC has been signed. (*)