Indonesia Finds Gas on Seram Island in Maluku Province

AMBON, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) and Cooperation Contract Contractor (KKKS) Citic Seram Energy had discovered a new reserve of 15.02 million cubic feet of gas on Seram Island in Maluku province.

"So we conduct a re-test and evaluate the hydrocarbon potential in the carbonate rocks of the Manusela formation," the task force's Head of Drilling and Well Treatment Division Surya Widyantoro said in a statement on Sunday, Feb. 12.

The new reserve of gas was discovered in the Lofin-2 (re-entry) exploration well of Seti Village in North East Seram sub-district, Seti, Central Maluku district, he said.

After retesting the lining test of the Lofin-2 exploration well (re-entry), which has the main objective in carbonate rocks of the Manusela formation, a gas flow of 15.02 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) was found in the non-choke 64/64 inches, he said.

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Re-testing the exploration well lining test is aimed to determine the character or behavior of the reservoir for future development of the Lofin structure.

Currently, a joint team comprising personnel of the SKK Migas and Citic Seram Energy has been working on the ground to monitor and test the strength of the hydrocarbon bursts.

"Flaring during the well testing has been carried out and the gas burst is quite good," Surya said.

The discovery of gas on Seram Island has experienced considerable challenges in the operational testing of exploratory wells and has taken much time because they are located in remote areas.

"Especially for mobilizing drilling equipment and materials, wells with relatively deep depths and high reservoir pressure," he said.

Meanwhile, the acting Head of the SKK Migas' Program and Communication Division Mohammad Kemal said the discovery of gas reserves on Seram Island has brought hope for the task force and its KKKS contractors to continue their massive, aggressive, and efficient explorations.

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Kemal added that the potential for oil reserves on Seram Island remains quite large and is predicted to reach at least five billion barrels.

"We have potential oil reserves on Seram Island and Warim Papua, and thank God there are already investors who are interested in looking at the data," he said.

The business activities of SKK Migas are state/government ones while KKKS contractors only function as operators. They are supervised and controlled by SKK Migas, so they are different from private plantations and mining activities in general.

Source: State News Antara