Bahlil announces jumbo natural gas discovery with potential of 5 Tcf

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia has announced the discovery of natural gas at the Geliga-1 well in the Ganal Block, off the coast of East Kalimantan, with a potential of around 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and 300 million barrels of condensate. “In an era where nearly all countries are safeguarding their reserves, once again we give thanks to God for this blessing, and we must truly focus on carrying out the President’s directive to seek new sources of oil,” Bahlil stated during a press conference on the Giant Gas Discovery in East Kalimantan held at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources office in Jakarta on Monday. This discovery is located in the Ganal Working Area (WK) operated by ENI with an 82% ownership stake, while the remaining 18% is held by Sinopec. The exploration involving the Italian energy company ENI confirms that Indonesia’s oil and gas potential remains vast, particularly in the Kutai Basin, East Kalimantan, which continues to show promising prospects. “This is the result of exploration, and after this, they will also carry out development to explore several other areas besides East Kalimantan,” Bahlil said. He explained that by 2028, ENI’s peak production could reach 2,000 MMSCFD, a significant increase compared to its current production of around 600 to 700 MMSCFD. That production will continue to rise until 2030 to 3,000 MMSCFD. Bahlil is optimistic that the increase in ENI’s production aligns with the government’s strategy to meet domestic gas needs. The Geliga well was drilled to a depth of around 5,100 metres in water depths of about 2,000 metres. This discovery extends ENI’s record of successful exploration in the Kutai Basin, following the previous large reserve find at Geng North in 2023 and the Konta-1 well discovery in 2025. The results of this discovery affirm the significant potential of the gas system in that basin as well as the stability of resources in the area. The Geliga discovery comes after the Final Investment Decision (FID) for several gas projects, namely Gendalo and Gandang (South Hub), as well as Geng North and Gehem (North Hub). For its development, the North Hub project will utilise a new floating facility (Floating Production Storage and Offloading/FPSO). Its capacity reaches 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bscfd) and 90,000 barrels of condensate per day (bpd). In addition, this project will also leverage existing facilities, including the Bontang LNG Plant. Besides the Geliga well, Bahlil also mentioned the discovery prior to Geliga, namely the Gula well, which yielded around 2 TCF of gas and 75 million barrels of condensate. From both wells, the initial estimate of the combined Geliga and Gula resources has the potential to produce an additional 1,000 mmscfd of gas and 90,000 bpd of condensate. In addition to impacting the increase in national oil and gas reserves, the jumbo gas discovery in the Ganal Block also opens opportunities to accelerate the development of integrated gas infrastructure. ENI is currently evaluating a development scheme that synergises with the North Hub project and existing facilities such as the Bontang LNG Plant, to expedite the monetisation of the discovery and optimise value added for the state. The government is urging that this discovery be promptly followed up to the production development stage. Such steps are crucial so that its economic benefits can soon be felt through increased investment, job creation, state revenues, and strengthening of national gas supplies for industrial and public needs.