Pertamina Officially Manages Mahakam Block from January 2018
1 January 2018 16:14 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State oil and gas company PT Pertamina officially managed the Mahakam Block located in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan Province, starting from January 1, 2018, taking over from Total E&P Indonesie (TEPI).
TEPI & Inpex had managed the block for the past five decades, and starting January 1, 2018, the management was handed over to Pertamina Hulu Mahakam, a subsidiary of Pertamina, Amien Sunaryadi, head of the Special Unit for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas).
The Mahakam Block is the largest natural gas producer in Indonesia and has contributed to some 13 percent of the nation`s gas production.
"On behalf of the Indonesian Government, we would like to thank Total E&P Indonesia as the contractor of the Mahakam Working Region (WK), and Inpex Indonesia as a partner of TEPI," he noted.
Upstream Director of PT Pertamina Syamsu Alam remarked that Pertamina will prioritize quality, health, safety, security, and environment aspects while managing Mahakam whose reservoir production peak was recorded during the 2003-2009 period.
"As part of our commitment to maintaining the sustainability of the operations and production, we have until now completed the drilling of 14 wells and will complete the drilling work on the 15th well in the next several days," he revealed.
PT Pertamina has allocated US$1.7 billion for exploration, expansion, and production activities of the Mahakam Block in 2018.
Based on data of the SKK Migas as of November 2017, Mahakam WK had produced oil and condensate at 52 thousand barrels per day and 1,360 million cubic feet per day.
The Mahakam Block still holds promising potential. Proven reserves as of January 1, 2016, reached 4.9 TCF of gas, 57 million barrels of oil, and 45 million barrels of condensate.
Pertamina is expected to contribute over 30 percent of the nation`s oil and gas production in 2018.
SKK Migas has set a target of producing 42.01 thousand barrels of oil per day and 916 million standard cubic feet of gas daily.
ANTARA
