Premier updates Indonesian ops
Thursday, August 25 2011 - 08:35 AM WIB
Production and development
During the first half of 2011, Singapore demand for West Natuna gas was 373 billion British thermal units per day (BBtud) with the Premier-operated Natuna Sea Block A in Indonesia selling an overall average of 154 BBtud (gross) from its gas export facility, up 3 per cent from first half 2010. This represented a market share of 41 per cent against a contractual share of 36.7 per cent. The non-operated Kakap Block (Premier 18.75 per cent) also contributed a further 42 BBtud (gross). Liquids production from the Block A Anoa field averaged 1,700 barrels of oil per day (bopd) (gross) and the Kakap field 3,400 bopd (gross). Overall, net production from Indonesia amounted to 10,800 boepd (2010: 11,300 boepd) on a working interest basis.
Production levels from Natuna Sea Block A will rise significantly in the second half of 2011 as the Gajah Baru field begins to supply into a second gas sales contract. Liquid production from the Anoa field is also expected to increase by over 70 per cent in the second half of the year due to A22, a new oil producing well, which was brought on-stream in June. We anticipate achieving first gas from the Gajah Baru project on budget and ahead of schedule. Production is ready to commence pending final approvals from the Government of Indonesia. Gajah Baru is the first of a number of fields to be developed to supply additional gas to domestic buyers in Batam, Indonesia and internationally to Singapore.
Development work on the Pelikan and Naga fields is targeting first gas in late 2013. Final project sanctions are expected in the second half of 2011. The Pelikan and Naga fields will be tied in to the new Gajah Baru central processing platform for export via the West Natuna Transportation System. Work will then commence on the next development project, the tie-in of the Gajah Puteri field.
The extension of the PSC for the non-operated Block A Aceh was executed in the fourth quarter of last year. Work has started on developing the fields and the EPCI tender documents for the facilities have been issued with final contract award expected by year-end. Final project sanction is expected in early 2012 and first gas is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2013.
Exploration and appraisal
On the Premier-operated Tuna Block, Gajah Laut Utara was drilled to a total depth of 15,380 feet (4,688 metres). The well encountered oil shows over a 350 metre interval of interbedded sandstones and shales in the Oligocene Gabus formation, but wireline logging indicated that the majority of the reservoirs were water wet with low porosity and permeability. One zone within the Oligocene section was sampled and gas was recovered.
Subsequent to the period end, the Belut Laut well was drilled in the adjacent sub-basin. Oil shows with high gas readings were reported throughout a gross 155 metre Oligocene interval. However, sandstones at this depth were of poor porosity. Subsurface work will now focus on prospects at shallower depths where good reservoir properties are preserved up-dip from the now proven source rocks. At least five such prospects have been identified in this Tuna Block and in the neighbouring Block 07/03 in Vietnam.
The 12-well development drilling campaign on the Natuna Sea Block A, which was initiated in the second half of 2010, will conclude with the drilling of two exploration wells, Anoa Deep and Biawak Besar, in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2012, respectively. The results of these two wells, along with the block-wide prospect inventory review which was completed in the second quarter, will be used to develop drilling and appraisal plans for the next five years.
On Block A Aceh, Matang-1 is expected to spud in the first quarter of 2012 and will test a Miocene-aged carbonate prospect up-dip of proven gas. The joint venture partners have also been in discussions about the location of a second exploration well. The two candidate prospects are Peudawa Rayeu, which is an appraisal of an existing gas discovery, and Alur Kacang, a carbonate build up syncline separated from the Alur Siwah field, now under development.
Elsewhere in Indonesia, the operator of the Buton licence plans to spud Benteng-1 late in the fourth quarter. Onshore construction projects are complete and the partners are now in the final stages of rig procurement. Benteng-1 will be drilled to test a Cretaceous-aged carbonate in a sub-thrust trap, onshore Buton Island. (end of excerpt)