Develop the Indonesia’s deepwater fields

The potential

Indonesia have the potential sedimentary basins and likely to contain hydrocarbons, especially oil and gas.

Geological and geophysical studies to identify, there are 60 tertiary sedimentary basins across Indonesia, of which 70% is located in off shore and more than half were located in the deep sea (deep water).

Until now, 71 contracts for oil and gas cooperation in the deep sea (deep water) have been signed where development plan (PoD I) of 4 fields in deep sea (deep water) have been approved by the Government and became the mainstay of production in the future.

The four fields are given as below:

1. North Jambu Aye field,
2. Gendalo field and Gehem (IDD Project),
3. Abadi field, and
4. Jangkrik field in Muara Bakau block.

The number of sedimentary basins in Indonesia?

The number of sedimentary basins in Indonesia has doubled. If in 2006 only 60 basins and in 2009 number of basins has increased to 128 basins.

“I always tell if the number of basins in Indonesia about 60 basins, but starting this morning that magic number has changed,” said Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources  in his speech at the Workshop on Indonesian Sedimentary Basin, Energy and Mineral Resources Building, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jakarta, Tuesday (19/5/2009).

Purnomo explained based on the results of the study reported the Department of Geological Agency, the current number of sedimentary basins in Indonesia has increased to 128 basins.

38 Basins

So far only 38 basins have been explored and drilled for petroleum and 14 of the are now producing oil and gas.

The rest are unexplored basins constrained due to the risks and taxes imposed.

PT Pertamina state oil company known as the exploration of oil and gas in existing fields, not on the field that really is not new or “greenfield”.

Fig 1 – Basin map of Indonesia (source: http://www.migas.esdm.go.id/grb.php?fd=5&img=302)

The challenges

Deep water field, although considered to be a mainstay in the Indonesian oil and gas sector in the future, the technology will be used is still too expensive and complicated for Indonesia.

As an illustration, when compared to the offshore oil and gas development, the implementation of offshore exploration activities in the region, much different from the development of the deep sea. Primarily in the selection of facilities and methods. For example, onshore drilling costs only U.S. $ 5-10 million. Drilling in shallow water to reach U.S. $ 20-25 million. As for the sea in a cost of U.S. $ 80-100 million.

• Technical aspects: (water depth, slope rugosity, high pressure, peculiar geological conditions)
• Commercial aspects: more time from discovery to first commercial production (8-10 years)
• Worldwide Deep Water Drilling Rig Availability is Limited (service availability)
• Regional Autonomy should support & be partner in maintaining the investment for regional area of Indonesia
• More Petroleum system Studies in deep water are needed to determine potential estimates

Develop deepwater fields

To develop deepwater fields, the Indonesian government provide investors with better project sharing contract (PSC) split for high risk block 65/35 (oil) and 60/40 (gas), no exploration well in the firm commitment, and exemption of import duty.

References / read more / related links :

1. Pemerintah Diminta Berikan Insentif Eksplorasi Migas (http://id.berita.yahoo.com/pemerintah-diminta-berikan-insentif-eksplorasi-migas-151803144–finance.html)
2. Empat Lapangan Laut Dalam Jadi Andalan Produksi Gas Masa Depan (http://www.esdm.go.id/berita/migas.html)
3. Empat Lapangan Laut Dalam Jadi Andalan Produksi Gas Masa Depan (http://www.migas.esdm.go.id/berita-kemigasan/detail/3478/Empat-Lapangan-Laut-Dalam-Jadi-Andalan-Produksi-Gas-Masa-Depan)
4. Jumlah Cekungan Geologi RI Tambah Dobel Jadi 128 Buah (http://finance.detik.com/read/2009/05/19/093544/1133732/4/jumlah-cekungan-geologi-ri-tambah-dobel-jadi-128-buah)
5. Cekungan sedimen (http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cekungan_sedimen)
6. The Geology of Indonesia/Sedimentary Basins (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Geology_of_Indonesia/Sedimentary_Basins)
7. Cekungan Sedimen Naik Dua Kali Lipat (http://www.merdeka.com/ekonomi/nasional/cekungan-sedimen-naik-dua-kali-lipat.html)
8. Indonesia Ajak Norwegia Kembangkan Migas Laut Dalam (http://www.migas.esdm.go.id/berita-kemigasan/detail/2967/Indonesia-Ajak-Norwegia-Kembangkan-Migas-Laut-Dalam)
9. Deep-Water Exploration & Development In Indonesia , http://www.subseauk.com/documents/presentations/deep%20water%20exploration%20&%20development%20in%20indonesia.pdf