Pertamina plans ambitious drilling campaign on Donggi

State oil and gas company Pertamina said it would drill 7 exploration wells starting October in its Donggi gas block in Central Sulawesi as part of the campaign to speed-up the block?s gas reserves certification.

?Five offshore wells and two onshore wells will be drilled as part of the effort to increase Matindok Block?s proven reserves into 8 TCF,? said Eteng A. Salam, Pertamina?s acting upstream director. He added that Pertamina is currently holding tender to procure the rigs.

Matindo block consists of Donggi block, which is operated by Pertamina and Senoro-Toili block, jointly operated by Pertamina and Exspan Nusantara.

Eteng said that the drilling campaign was part of the plan to speed up marketing and exploitation of the blocks? gas reserves.

Eteng said the drilling campaign was expected to mend disappointing earlier drilling results, which failed to discover sufficient gas reserves for commercialization.

Pertamina had held talks with US oil company Marathon Oil over the possibility of developing Matindok block into LNG plants and export the product to the USA. (godang)