SE Asia needs better exploring methods<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Southeast Asia's oil fields are likely to
\ncontinue flowing for another 30-to-40 years, but explorers would
\nneed better techniques to make new strikes when old wells dried
\nup, experts and officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"There are lots of opportunities for oil and gas exploration
\nin Southeast Asia. But it is going to take higher technology for
\nus to reach the new fields,\" said Michael Johnson, technical
\nvice-president of U.S. oil giant Exxon.<\/p>\n
Johnson told a conference on Southeast Asian oil and gas that
\na recent count of the region's oil reserves showed it had close
\nto 31 billion barrels, while its gas deposit was estimated to be
\nat 281 trillion cubic feet.<\/p>\n
\"But there's been so much oil and gas found in this region
\nthat when the estimates dry up, it's going to be difficult to
\nfind more without better technology,\" Johnson said.<\/p>\n
He said a case in point was the Malay oil basin off Malaysia's
\neastern Trengganu state -- one of the region's richest
\nhydrocarbon fields -- which had already exhausted 1.3 billion
\nbarrels of its estimated four billion barrel capacity in just 21
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Some 1,500 industry experts and officials are attending the
\nthree-day conference by the American Association of Petroleum
\nGeologists (AAPG), which seeks to address potential problems for
\noil and gas explorers in Southeast Asia after the turn of the
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
Methods<\/p>\n
Toby Carleton, president of the AAPG, said more sophisticated
\nseismic studies and exploration methods were needed to assure the
\nregion's oil and gas production rates in the next four decades.<\/p>\n
\"The way I look at it, the reserves in this region should last
\nfor at least 30 to 40 years based on current demand and supply,\"
\nCarleton said.<\/p>\n
Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia's minister for oil and gas affairs,
\nsaid future exploration efforts in Southeast Asia must be
\nextended to more unconventional deepwater areas.<\/p>\n
\"Limited exploration was carried out in the these areas in the
\npast due to technological constraints and high investments
\ncosts,\" Syed Hamid said.<\/p>\n
G. A. S. Nayoan, a director of Indonesia's state-owned oil and
\ngas firm Pertamina, said demand for oil in developing countries
\nwas expected to rise 3.87 percent per annum and natural gas 5.6
\npercent per year from 2000.<\/p>\n
\"These staggering numbers of forecast demand of oil and gas
\nmust be met by explorers,\" Nayoan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/se-asia-needs-better-exploring-methods-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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