Gulf's Natuna production

JAKARTA (JP): Gulf Indonesia, a production sharing contractor of state oil and gas company Pertamina, will start production at its two oil fields in the Natuna island chain in the fourth quarter of the year.

Pertamina's spokesman Ramli Djaafar said on Friday in a statement that the combined production test at the Jangkar -2X well streamed 7,855 barrels per day (bpd) of 45 degrees American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity. The well is expected to start production at the rate of 6,000 bpd in December this year.

He said the second well -- the KRA-1 South well -- was expected to start production in November this year at the rate of 5,000 bpd. The well streamed 7,231 bpd when tested in July last year. Both fields are located in the Kakap area in the South China Sea.

The test also discovered a natural gas resource of 14.7 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) at depths of 8,130 feet and 8.414 feet, he said.

Gulf, a subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources Ltd., operates and owns 31.25 percent of the Kakap area. The remaining shares are owned by Novus UK (Kakap 2) Ltd. (6.25 percent), Premier Pty. Ltd. (18.75 percent), Movus UK (Kakap) Ltd. (13.5 percent), Novus Petroleum Canada (Kakap) Ltd. (5.25 percent), LL&E Indonesia (15 percent) and Pertamina (10 percent). (jsk)