Oil and gas production in Indonesia is still declining. Nevertheless, the year 2023 has been a remarkable year for the oil and gas industry in Indonesia.
Here are some of the most significant and exciting events that took place in 2023.
- The completion of BP’s Tangguh LNG Train 3.
- The acquisition of Shell’s interest in the Abadi LNG project by Pertamina and Petronas.
- Huge gas discovery in Geng North field by ENI.
- Another big gas discovery in the Andaman Sea by Mubadala and Harbour Energy in the Layaran-1 well.
With a total production of around 605,000 barrels of oil and 5400 MMSCF of gas per day from all the operators, here are the top four oil operators in 2023.
- Pertamina Hulu Rokan
- ExxonMobil Cepu Limited
- Pertamina EP
- Pertamina Hulu Mahakam
PERTAMINA HULU ROKAN
Pertamina Hulu Rokan is celebrating its 5th anniversary as the operator of the huge but declining Rokan block that it acquired from Chevron Pacific Indonesia and other oil fields in Sumatra.
In meeting its commitments to increase oil production from the Rokan block, PHR has been pulling out all the stops to maintain and even increase production from the rapidly declining oil fields.
In 2023, Pertamina produced 59 million barrels of oil from the Rokan block up from 57.3 million barrels in 2022.
The company has drilled more than 1000 development wells that helped increase its daily oil production to 167,000 barrels.
To further increase the production from the block PHR will start two enhanced oil recovery projects:
1. Chemical EOR in the Minas field – A 96 million USD project.
2. Steam flood in the Rantaubais field – A 240 million USD project.
The Rokan block is home to two giant oil fields: The Minas oil field and the famous Duri oil field. It is also home to many smaller oil fields.
EXXONMOBIL CEPU LIMITED
EMCL was the largest oil producer in Indonesia in 2022. However, its production reduced to 140,000 BOPD in 2023 also due to natural decline.
To counter the decline and to boost its production, EMCL has earmarked 203 million USD to drill 7 infill wells in 2024: with five wells targeting the carbonate formation and two wells targeting the clastic formation. Production from the new wells is expected to boost its production by 10,000 BOPD in 2025.
PERTAMINA EP
Pertamina EP produced 71,740 BOPD in 2023. Pertamina EP was established in 2005 as a subsidiary company of PT Pertamina to operate all the oil and gas fields that Pertamina had in 2005 throughout Indonesia. Some of them are very old fields acquired from BPM ( Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij) in 1965 and some of them are newer fields discovered and developed by Pertamina.
PERTAMINA HULU MAHAKAM
Pertamina HuluMahakam produced around 26,200 barrels of oil and 530 MMSCF of gas per day. Although its oil production may be low compared to the other three, its gas production is very significant.
PHM has been very active in increasing its oil and gas production from the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan. Three offshore rigs are currently drilling development, re-entry, and exploration wells for PHM.
EPILOGUE
As oil and gas production continues to decline, Indonesia is getting even more serious about reversing the trend. The focus in 2024 is to boost the tempo of exploration. SKK Migas said exploration spending this year will double to 1.8 billion USD from the previous year with a target of drilling 48 exploration wells.
By Jamin Djuang – Chief Learning Officer of LDI Training and author of The Story of Oil and Gas: How Oil and Gas are Explored, Drilled and Produced.
