The Jabung Block contract extension confirmation from the Indonesian government, which allows PetroChina International Jabung Ltd. to lead the operation from 2023-2043, is the major fuel needed to start the aggressive development in Jabung.

Following the contract extension signing in late 2021, PetroChina moved fast with 11 development drilling programs with additional 3 development drilling programs to become 14 development drilling program this year, the field trial for CO₂ Injection Huff & Puff technology and other efforts to maximize Jabung Block’s oil-and-gas production.

Currently one of the best-performing blocks in Indonesia, Jabung’s Production Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed in 1993 for the period of 30 years. This block, located in Jambi Province, recorded its first oil discovery at the North Geragai Field in 1995 (2 years after the PSC signing), and its first production in 1997 (2 years after the hydrocarbon discovery).

PetroChina took over the Jabung Block operation in 2002 as operator and has successfully recorded stable average daily production above 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) since 2006 up to now. As of September, Jabung Block booked a total production of 399.01 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mmboe) of oil, condensate, LPG and gas sales under the monitoring and supervision of upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas.

“For the next 20 years, we are committed to carrying out various exploration, development and production-facility maintenance programs,” said PetroChina president director Qian Mingyang.

The development program, known as Drilling Campaign 2022, started with the spud-in of Panen-D10 development well on Jan. 21. After Panen-D10 spud-in, the drilling program continued in Panen Field to drill another 4 infill wells, 7 infill wells in Gemah field, 1 well in West Betara Field and another 1 well in Sabar Field.

The programs in 9 development drilling wells resulted a total initial production of 4,091 barrels of oil and condensate per day, and 28.6 million standard cubic feet per day (Mmscfd) of raw gas. The remaining 5 wells are currently in the completion stage and forecasted for a total initial production of 2,717 barrels of oil and condensate per day, and 7.4 Mmscfd of raw gas. 

“The promising initial production results prove that Jabung still has potential to be developed in the future. PetroChina will continue to find prospective well candidates within this area for a future development program,” Qian added.

This year, PetroChina conducted the field trial “High-Performance Water-Based Mud” technology for Gemah-69 and Panen-D13 wells. Previously, the drilling activities used the potassium chloride (KCl) polymer as main material. However, there had been KCl polymer scarcity, which resulted in much higher price of the substance. The High-Performance Water-Based Mud technology substituted the usage of KCl polymer for budget efficiency purposes and cut down the drilling activity period. The mud testing in Gemah-69 resulted in the budget efficiency worth US$ 334,000 because the system effectively reduced the operation period up to six days. The similar testing in Panen-D13 cut the operation period up to 3.5-day faster.  

Apart from the development programs, PetroChina also kicked off the field trial for CO₂ Injection Huff & Puff in Gemah-6 oil field on Dec. 8. This field-trial program will run for the next 30 days from start date, targeting a total volume of 1,800 tonnes of CO₂ injection.

The CO₂ Injection Huff & Puff in Jabung was the second CO₂ injection in Indonesia following the similar project held in October in Jatibarang oil field, operated by Pertamina. The CO₂ Injection was the follow up of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s strategic plan in 2016 that expected to increase the oil-and-gas reserves up to 4.6 billion stock tank barrel (STB) from 136 fields in Indonesia. 

“We really hope that the CO₂ Injection Huff & Puff field trial will run smoothly and record good results. The success of this program is essential as the reference for Jabung’s future works to increase production with CO₂ technology,” said Qian. “The implementation of this technology will also boost our confidence to maximize Jabung potential during the contract-extension period in the next 20 years.”

The CO₂ injection program in Jabung was fully supported by SKK Migas, Oil and Gas Directorate General of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, PetroChina Management in Indonesia, Beijing headquarters and Jabung partners.

A team of SKK Migas and PetroChina visit the location of The CO2 Injection Huff & Puff in Gemah-6 in Jabung Block during the ceremony of the program on December 8, 2022. This field trial marks an important milestone for the feasibility of CO2 Injection in the oil reservoirs in general, as well as to collect important data for the future EOR study with continuous CO2 injection technology

During the field-trial period, a large amount of carbon dioxide will be injected to Simpang reservoir from Lower Talang Akar formation in Gemah-6 well. This field trial marks an important milestone for the feasibility of CO₂ Injection in the oil reservoirs in general, as well as to collect important data for the future EOR study with continuous CO₂ injection technology.

The CO₂ Injection Huff & Puff in Gemah-6 was a part of CO₂-EOR implementation in Gemah Field that potentially increased the national production and reserve. The CO₂ Injection was also part of the Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture Utility Storage (CCUS) implementation that supported Indonesia’s Net Zero Emission (NZE) target in 2060.

As part of Indonesia’s upstream oil-and-gas industry, PetroChina is committed to support the government’s production target of 1 million BOPD of oil and 12 BSCFD of gas in 2030 through a series of exploration, production increase and field developments.

Throughout 2022, PetroChina completed 10 workover programs as targeted in the original Work Program & Budget (WP&B) of 2022, which consisted work in 6 wells that are producing and contributing 324 BOPD and 1.65 Mmscfd of gas. PetroChina added workover programs on 6 wells, furthering this year’s workover program to become 16 wells.

PetroChina also continued its well-service activity through the implementation of Gas Lift Pack Off (GLPO), Gas Lift, pump maintenance, wax removal, swabbing and replacing production zone/layer. This has contributed to production of 1,173 BPD of oil and condensates and 2.44 Mmscfd of gas.

All the efforts are expected to achieve this year’s production target of 16.315 BOPD of oil, 168.1 Mmscfd of gas (including LPG). In 2021, Jabung Working Area ranked seventh in national oil-and-gas lifting with average daily lifting of 15,436 BOPD of oil and 173 Mmscfd of gas and LPG.

To ensure a better production ahead, the PetroChina carried out planned shutdown in Betara Gas Plant (BGP) for eight days, from Oct. 23. The shutdown is a routine program to maintain and repair important facilities in Jabung Working Area, with the hope that performance of Betara Gas Plant will be improved and that production of condensate and LPG can be increased once its reopened.

The shutdown program involved 1,354 workers, working in two shifts around the clock. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health protocols and grid management were strictly applied without interrupting the process in order to prevent any outbreak.

Nine main activities accomplished, including inspections of Amine Flash Column and Amine Stripper as well as replacement of Turbo Expander Mechanical Center Section (MCS). They were all completed on schedule, with the last of the follow-up activity accomplished by Oct. 27. Currently, all surface facilities are already back to normal operation, with some equipment showing better performance after the shutdown.

As PetroChina gears up to start their 2023-2043 period of the new contract, if their history in 2022 tells a story, it is that they will deliver more than what they have promised.

However, it is more than just oil and gas.

In March of this year, PetroChina International Jabung Ltd. has been awarded with a four-star rating, out of a possible five, for its various corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs at the 2022 TOP CSR Awards. PetroChina also received the CSR award from Indonesia Sustainable Development Goals Award (ISDA) held by Corporate Forum for CSR Development in November.

PetroChina works closely with governments, local communities, NGOs and academic communities to create economic, health, educational, environmental, infrastructure, disaster-relief and development of indigenous-community empowerment programs. Their CSR program includes a water-filtration program, agricultural initiatives for local farmers, social relief after disasters all over the country, as well as vaccination program for employees and their families.

Moreover, their work in Jabung received two PROPER Green Awards for its BGP for gas and Geragai Field for oil from the Environment and Forestry Ministry. The company adhered to regulations set forth to protect the surrounding environment.

In 2021, PetroChina won the Patra Nirbhaya Karya Utama Adinugraha II Award in Without Loss of Work Hours Due to Accident category. In the last ten years, PetroChina achieved more than 66 million safe working hours.

With the excellent track record, technology and human resources that were given the credit for the vast production figures, PetroChina is confident to welcome 2023 and has what it takes to make Jabung one of the highest-producing blocks in Indonesia -- perhaps as it has always been.

With this contract extension, PetroChina will continue to operate the Jabung Working Area in Jambi in collaboration with partners PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Jabung, PT GPI Jabung Indonesia and PETRONAS Carigali (Jabung) Ltd.