TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam, a subsidiary of Pertamina Hulu Energi, discovered a new source of natural gas at the Manpatu-1x, an exploration well in the South Mahakam area in the waters off the coast of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Bayu Giriansyah, vice president of exploration at Pertamina Hulu Energi Kalimantan, said this is the first discovery for Indonesia in 2022.

"Drilling started on October 20, 2021 using the Rig Hakuryu-14. It reached a depth of 3,776.4 meters on December 9, 2021," Bayu said in a press conference on Wednesday, January 5.

The drilling team found oil and gas hydrocarbon layers with a total net pay thickness of 207 meters at the Sepinggan Delta Sequence and Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence intervals, "with excellent reservoir quality."

"This success is a driving force for us to continue to carry out drilling, which is important for the sustainability of oil and gas production from the Mahakam working area," said Pertamina Hulu Mahakam Zone 8 general manager Agus Amperianto.

Pertamina has also identified a reservoir zone in the Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence, where the company would carry out a follow-up flow test.

Pertamina Hulu Energi for Kalimantan Region president director, Chalid Said Salim, said the new gas discovery is one of the achievements of the company's strategy to increase reserves and maintain oil and gas production through exploration and exploitation activities.

The new discovery is a form of Pertamina's real commitment in providing Indonesia with energy sources and increasing the national oil and gas reserves, to achieve the production target of 1 million barrels of oil per day and 12 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day in 2030.

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ANTARA