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ifty-three oil and gas working areas are currently in the process of being terminated due to either unsuccessful exploration or failure to meet agreed commitments.

Figures from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) show that out of the 53 working areas in question, 45 are conventional oil and gas blocks and eight are non-conventional. Among the sites being terminated are West Glagah Kambuna, Palangkaraya and Halmahera Kofiau working areas, according to the regulator'€™s data.

'€œContractors are returning the working areas,'€ said SKKMigas spokesperson Elan Biantoro. '€œWest Glagah Kambuna, operated by Petronas, has drilled three wells but found them all dry. Palangkaraya has drilled one well and found it should be further north. Halmahera Kofiau is the same.'€

Other working areas that have been approved for termination include South Madura, Northern Papua, Merangin I and Kerapu, which have also seen unsuccessful exploration drilling. In September, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry also approved the termination of Mandar and South CPP working areas.

The country is struggling to encourage more oil exploration, seen as necessary to securing new hydrocarbon resources and reserves for future use.

However, analysts and business players have said that the '€œeasy era'€ of oil and gas exploration is over and the country has to move to more difficult exploration work in frontier areas that are mostly located in the eastern regions.

There are currently 314 conventional oil working areas in the country, of which 84 are in the exploration stage. The other 230 are in exploitation stage, consisting of 53 working areas in termination process, 126 active oil and gas conventional working areas and 53 active non-conventional working areas.

'€œApart from those areas where only dry holes have been found, there are also several working areas that are under performing. The 53 non-conventional working areas that are said to be remaining active also [have unclear futures],'€ Elan said.

Earlier this year SKKMigas summoned 15 contractors through an announcement made via local newspapers. The announcement was made because the regulator couldn'€™t contact the companies to follow up on the progress of their exploration activities.

'€œThe 15 companies have been exploring for quite a long time, however, have not meet their commitments. We couldn'€™t find their offices and their contact persons could not be contacted,'€ SKKMigas chief Amien Sunaryadi said earlier. Only two companies have replied to the call.
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