Santa Fe discovers gas

JAKARTA (JP): The United States energy company Santa Fe Energy Resources has found a gas field in its Jabung block in Jambi, which is its fifth gas discovery in the block, state oil and gas company Pertamina said on Friday.

Pertamina's spokesman Ramli Djaafar said in a statement that the Gemah discovery well is situated eight miles (12.8 kilometers) south of Santa Fe's North East Betara field and 15 miles west of the company's North Geragai and Makmur fields.

Santa Fe, which has 30 percent shares in the block, has drilled 35 wells, of which only one is dry.

The Gemah No. 1 well is flowing a stable combination speed of 22 million cubic feet per day (MMCF) and 1,414 barrels of condensate per day in the Jurassic and Paleocene sand formation.

Since 1995, Santa Fe has made five discoveries in the Jabung block with a reserve of more than 1 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of hydrocarbon gas and 150 million barrels of crude oil and liquid condensate.

Santa Fe owns a 30 percent stake in the Jabung block and the remaining shares are owned by Pertamina (10 percent), and Kerr- McGee Corp (30 percent) and Amerada Hess (30 percent). (jsk)