TEPI successfully starts up new JM1 platform in South Mahakam field

Total E&P Indonesie (TEPI) said that the Jempang Metulang Platform (JM1), located in South Mahakam Field, at Mahakam Block, East Kalimantan, has been safely and successfully started up and put on production on July 10.

?The first drilled well, JM-101, is now producing at around 32 MMsfcd of gas and 450 boepd of condensate, while the other well, JM-104, is being drilled by Rig Hakuryu-10,? said TEPI in a statement on Monday.

TEPI is the operator of the block with a 50 percent interest, with the remaining 50 percent interest held by Inpex Corp. The current contract is set to expire at the end of 2017. The government has already decided to hand over 70 percent interest in the block to state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, and the remainder 30 percent offered to TEPI and Inpex.

TEPI said in the statement that the safety record of the project, drilling and start up operation is excellent with zero LTI and it consumes approximately 2.9 million man hours. ?The start up and put on production of this platform is around 80 days ahead schedule committed in the POD (Plan of Development), approved by SKK Migas,? the company said, referring to the upstream oil and gas authority.

JM1 platform is constructed under South Mahakam Phase 3 (SMK3) development project and it is the fourth platform in South Mahakam Field after Main Stupa (SP1), West Stupa (SP2) and East Mandu (MD1) which were constructed earlier under South Mahakam Phase 1 and 2 project.

JM1 is a tri-pod platform designed by TEPI and all constructions have been done locally in Handil yard (at Handil village) with main contractors being locals. It has 6 slots (3 splitter slots and 3 single slots) to accommodate 9 wells (7 wells part of SMK-3 development and 2 future wells) with capacity of 120 MMscfd. Total weight of top side is ~950 MTon and jacket weight is ~720 MTon. All engineering works were done in-house under supervision of TEPI personnel.

The new platform is connected to the existing platform (East Mandu-MD1) through a new pipeline of 12 inch diameter with 7.7 km length while the latter is then connected through a 24 inch diameter pipeline of 10 km length to South Mahakam main export line of 24 inch diameter pipeline of 64 km length. The gas from South Mahakam field is treated in PPA (Peciko Processing Area) gas processing plant located at Senipah area. The gas is then exported to Bontang LNG plant through an existing 42 inch pipe together with other production from Peciko, Bekapai and South Mahakam.

The project of SMK3 was started on April 26, 2013 for duration of 24 months. The platform and pipeline were ready around six weeks ahead schedule and transferred to operation team on April 21, 2015. Once the platform was ready, the drilling activities were started with spud-in of first well JM-101 on May 8, 2015 with Hakuryu-10 rig with TD (total depth) of 4,200 meters. The well is delivered in 55 days with a very low NPT (non productive time).

In terms of drilling, JM-101 is a strategic one as it is the first well for JM1 with light architecture well concept. With the success of this well, it confirms that five out of seven wells in JM1 can use light architecture instead of heavy architecture concept, TEPI said.

This light architecture concept is an innovative initiative of TEPI in order to drill the well faster and cheaper. By using this concept, all wells in JM1 can be drilled 113 days faster and 37, the company claimed.

?With this concepts, all of the JM1 wells successfully drilled 113 days ahead schedule, and cuts down US$37 millon compared using heavy architectures. And this is a TEPI?s important achievement in developing Mahakam Block,? explained TEPI President & General Manager, Hardy Pramono in the statement. He asserted that different innovations and low LTI has proven TEPI?s commitment to give the best for Indonesia.

South Mahakam Field is one of TEPI?s producing fields under production site of Senipah Peciko and South Mahakam (SPS). South Mahakam Field is producing gas since 2012. South Mahakam gas field is located offshore at around 70 km from SPS processing plant and terminal. With this new well of JM-101, South Mahakam will be producing around 315 Mmscfd of gas and around 13 600 boepd of condensate. The peak production of South Mahakam Field is expected at around 330 MMscfd of gas and more than 14 000 boepd of condensate.

?This is a new key asset to sustain production of Mahakam and this is another TEPI?s contribution to Indonesia,? the company said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak