Indonesia's energy ministry has a signed off on Eni's investment plan for the Merakes deep-water gas field off East Kalimantan, meaning the Italian oil and gas giant will start implementing the project, the company said on Monday in a statement.
“The Indonesian domestic market is growing fast and we will continue to watch it closely so that our activities support it and exploit its potential,” said Eni's chief executive Claudio Descalzi.
"The Merakes Development Project's approval is an important step forward for our strategy which aims to increase both our presence and our production in South East Asia," Descalzi stated.
"In order to do so, we will leverage on exploration, which will enable us to increase our reserves first, and then our gas production thanks to the optimization of existing facilities and complying with the strictest time-to-market," he added.
The Merakes development project, located in the Kutei Basin, offshore East Kalimantan, consists in the drilling and construction of subsea wells with a dedicated transportation system at a depth of 1,500 metres and connected to the Jangkrik Floating Production Unit, located 35 kilometres to the northeast, Eni stated.
The gas produced from the field will be shipped to the Bontang LNG plant using also all the other existing facilities of Jangkrik field as well as the East Kalimantan transportation network. This new production will also help extend the life of the plant, according to Eni.
This development will also strengthen Eni’s technological and operations leadership in the development of deep-water gas fields in Indonesia.
Eni is the operator of East Sepinggan Contract Area through its subsidiary Eni East Sepinggan Limited which holds an 85% Participating Interest while Indonesia's PT Pertamina Hulu Energi East Sepinggan holds the remaining 15 percent.
Eni has been operating in Indonesia since 2001 and holds a large portfolio of assets in exploration, production and development, the company said.
Production activities are located in the Kutei Basin, East Kalimantan, mainly through the Jangkrik field, in the Muara Bakau working area, that delivers production in excess of 650 million standard cubic feet of gas (mmscfd) - 18 million cubic metres - per day, Eni stated.
.jpg)
