Total to start drilling 6 wells in Mahakam block in March
Thursday, February 2 2017 - 03:28 AM WIB
Total E&P Indonesie (TEPI) President and General Manager Arividya Novianto has announced that his company will start drilling six wells in the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan in March, thejakartapost.com reported.
?We?ll have six wells, while (state-owned energy company) Pertamina will have 19 wells,? said Novianto as reported by tempo.co following a meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Novianto, who was accompanied by his predecessor Hardy Parmono, said during his meeting with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan that they also discussed the transition of the Mahakam block takeover by Pertamina from the company.
TEPI?s contract in the Mahakam block ends on December 31 this year, after operating the Mahakam field for 50 years. PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam, a subsidiary of PT Pertamina, has been appointed to operate the block as from January 1, 2018, but the latter has been allowed by the government to start making investment in the block this year.
As an operator, TEPI has a 50 percent ?participation right? while the remaining 50 percent is owned by Impex Corporation Ltd.
Novianto declined to comment on an offer of a 30 percent participation right with Impex Corporation in the new Mahakam block contract, saying TEPI was focusing on the smooth transition of the Mahakam field?s management.
?It has not been discussed. Our priority is a smooth transition. A smooth transition is more important so that production at Mahakam does not drop significantly,? he added.
TEPI expects to produce 1,430 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 53,000 barrels of oil per day in 2017. (*)