Eni Confirms Size of 'Giant' Gas Discovery offshore Indonesia

A drill stem test (DST) confirmed the preliminary assessment of about 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas and 300 million barrels of condensate in the Geliga-1 discovery in the Kutei Basin offshore Indonesia, Eni SpA said Thursday.

The Italian state-controlled energy major announced the "giant" discovery in the Ganal block - which it operates with an 82 percent stake, the remaining 18 percent owned by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp - on April 20.

The DST results showed the well could sustain a production rate of around 200 million cubic feet a day of gas and approximately 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate, Eni said in a press release Thursday.

"Test results demonstrate high deliverability, further strengthening the strategic potential of Indonesia's Kutei Basin and supporting accelerated development options leveraging existing and planned infrastructure", Eni said.

"During DST, the tested reservoir flowed at rates of up to 60 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd), constrained by the rig facilities, and with very limited pressure drawdown, confirming excellent deliverability".

Drilled to a total depth of about 5,100 meters (16,732.28 feet), the well intersected a gas column with "excellent petrophysical properties" in the Miocene interval, according to Eni. The site off the coast of East Kalimantan province on Indonesia's side of Borneo island had a water depth of about 2,000 meters, according to the company.

"The new discovery is located next to the undeveloped Gula gas discovery, estimated at approximately 2 Tcf of gas in place and 75 million barrels of condensate. Early evaluations indicate that, when combined, Geliga and Gula could underpin incremental production of around 1,000 MMscfd of gas and 80,000 bpd of condensate", Eni said.

Ganal is among assets Eni agreed last year to contribute to its pending joint venture with Malaysia's state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd. The independent joint venture, called Searah, will focus on gas-producing and development assets in Indonesia and Malaysia. The combination would create a "major" LNG player in the Asian market, according to the partners. Eni continues to expect the transaction to be completed this quarter.

For the Geliga discovery, Eni expects to submit a plan of development (POD) to the government "in the coming weeks".

"The POD aims to enable the fast‑track development of a third production hub in the prolific Kutei Basin, alongside the Gendalo and Gandang gas project (South Hub) and the Geng North and Gehem fields (North Hub), by leveraging the development concept currently being implemented for the North Hub project", Eni added.

"In parallel, studies are underway to assess liquefaction capacity at the Bontang plant beyond that already included in the North Hub POD, potentially enabling the reactivation of up to two additional LNG trains currently out of service".

Earlier this year Eni made final investment decisions to proceed with the North and South Hub projects.

Expected to go online 2028, the projects are designed to add up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas and 90,000 bpd of condensate to Eni's production capacity, it said in a press release March 18. Eni expects to reach peak production at the new hubs 2029.

"The Gendalo and Gandang development plan, in water depths ranging from 1,000-1,800 meters, includes the drilling of seven producing wells and the installation of deepwater subsea production systems tied back to Jangkrik FPU [floating production unit]", Eni said.

"For the North Hub, the project foresees the drilling of 16 producing wells at water depths between 1,700 and 2,000 meters, and the installation of subsea systems linked to a newly built FPSO [floating production, storage and offloading vessel] capable of processing over 1 Bscfd [billion standard cubic feet per day] of gas and 90,000 bpd of condensate, with a storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels.

"The combined volumes in place for the two projects amount to nearly 10 Tcf of gas initially in place, with 550 million barrels of associated condensate".

The gas will be channeled to an existing pipeline network and the Bontang liquefaction plant. The LNG produced will be delivered to both the domestic and overseas markets. The condensate will be processed and stored offshore in the FPSO for export via a shuttle tanker, Eni said.

"The development plan also includes extending the operating life of the Bontang LNG plant by reactivating one of its currently idle liquefaction trains (Train F)", it added.

Authorities in the Southeast Asian country approved Eni's development plans for the North and South Hub projects 2024. Eni at the time also secured a 20-year extension to the Indonesia Deepwater Development gas project, which consists of the Ganal and Rapak blocks, as announced by the company August 23, 2024.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com