Arco drills gas off Irian

Arco drills gas off Irian

LOS ANGELES (Reuters): Arco on Tuesday said it has drilled a successful natural gas well offshore Irian Jaya in eastern Indonesia which flowed at a combined rate of 45 million standard cubic feet per day from four stem tests.

The Ubadari-1 well is located 30 miles from previous Arco wells. It is located in the same Paleocene age sandstone formation, giving Arco added confidence in the region's gas fields.

"The results of Ubadari-1 accentuate the fact that we are developing the next great gas basin for Indonesia," said Leon Codron, president of Atlantic Richfield Indonesia.

Arco said this discovery along with a string of successful wells put the Tangguh base of proved and probable reserves at a level approaching Indonesia's giant Arun field.

Last September, Arco and its partners confirmed the discovery of at least 13 trillion cubic feet of proved and probable reserves to support the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.