Total to start drilling on South Mahakam field

Total E&P Indonesie will start drilling on the South Mahakam field in June this year, said Hardy Pramono, Executive Vice President Operations and East Kalimantan District Manager of Total E&P Indonesie Friday.

?We will start drilling on the field in June,? said Hardy after meeting with R Priyono, Chairman of upstream authority BPMIGAS, in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

South Mahakam field within Mahakam Block is a new field being developed by Total. Hardy said the development of the block has shown significant progress. So far, Total has installed about 40 kilometers of pipeline out of the target 67 kilometers.

The platform facility of the field is expected to arrive in April this year, he noted.

The South Mahakam field is expected to begin initial gas production in 2013. The gas production will increase in stages until reaching its peak production of around 250 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).

The Mahakam Block is a matured block and its production is on downward trend. The new facilities are expected to help maintain the current level.

Earlier, Total said the construction of the facilities would cost around $382 million, excluding exploration spending.

The South Mahakam offshore project is targeted to commence production in May 2013 with target volume of 250 MMSCFD.

Editing by Roffie Kurniawan