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Medco drills new gas well offshore in South Natuna Sea
The Kaci-2 gas well will produce an estimated 13 mmscfd of gas once full production begins, the company said.
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An oil and gas rig in the offshore Kepodang Field in the Muriah Block operated by Saka Energi Muriah Limited. (SKK Migas/SKK Migas.)
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ublicly-listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energi Internasional has tapped into a new gas well in the aging South Natuna Sea Block B, located in the waters of the Riau archipelago.
The company, through subsidiary Medco E&P, said on Monday the new Kaci-2 gas well, located 2,359 feet below the seafloor, would produce an estimated 13 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas once full production begins. Medco did not give a date.
Read also: Indonesia aims to double gas production by 2030 with major projects in pipeline
Medco’s new gas well will raise the block’s gas production by 7 percent after production reached 183 mmscfd as of this year’s first half, according to Upstream Oil and Gas Special Regulatory Taskforce (SKK Migas) data.
The new gas well also aids the block’s transition into a gassier asset amid declining oil production, which dipped by 11 percent year-on-year to 16,286 barrels per day in 2019.
“The success of drilling Kaci-2 opens opportunities for exploring new potential,” said Medco E&P president director Ronald Gunawan in a statement.
The block’s transition reflects Indonesia’s own transition into a gassier economy. SKK Migas aims to double domestic gas production over the decade to 12,300 mmscfd by 2030, turning the country – once a global oil exporter – into a major gas exporter in Asia Pacific.
Read also: Medco means business in South Natuna
SKK Migas head Dwi Soetjipto said that Medco’s new gas well was “quite strategic” as, apart from helping raise domestic gas production, it also “strengthened Indonesia’s activity in the outermost regions.”
Medco acquired the block from Japan’s Inpex Corp and the United States’ ConocoPhillips between 2016 and 2017. The acquisition included several gas infrastructures bringing the fuel into Malaysia and Singapore.
Stocks of the company, traded at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) with the code MEDC, jumped 3.8 percent on Monday as the benchmark, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), gained 0.27 percent. The shares have lost more than 43 percent of their value so far this year.
