Unocal to develop RI's first deepwater oil and gas field
Unocal to develop RI's first deepwater oil and gas field
JAKARTA (JP): Unocal Indonesia Co, a unit of Unocal Corp,
plans to develop the country's first deepwater oil and gas
discovery off the coast of East Kalimantan by 2001.
Company president Timothy C. Lauer said on Friday that the
company would cooperate with state oil and gas company Pertamina
to develop the technology for the development of the deepwater
deposit.
"We are now in the process of trying to put together a team
with individuals from Pertamina to develop the deepwater
technology," Lauer said on the sideline of a gathering to mark
the delivery of emergency medical supplies to Indonesians by U.S.
companies.
Unocal contributed US$25,000 to the $1.7 million relief
program, which includes medical help for poor families severely
affected by the monetary crisis.
The company announced last year it had discovered significant
amounts of oil and gas in the Merah Besar field and made a
similar statement two months ago regarding the Seno field. Both
are located in the Kutai basin, in deep water in the Makassar
Strait.
The Seno field is located in the Makassar Straits production
sharing contract (PSC) area, which is operated and 50 percent
owned by Unocal, with Mobil Makassar Inc, a unit of Mobil Corp,
holding the remainder.
The Merah Besar field is located partly on the Makassar
Straits PSC area and partly in the East Kalimantan PSC area which
is operated and wholly owned by Unocal.
Lauer said the company had already drilled several wells but
had still to drill several others these year to ascertain the
full amount of gas and oil in those fields.
Earlier the company estimated the Seno field contained between
210 million and 720 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and
Merah Besar between 100 million and 250 million boe.
"Hopefully, by the end of the year, I can answer the question
about how much we are going to produce in the future," Lauer
said.
According to Pertamina data, Unocal produced 95,690 barrels
per day (bpd) last year making it the country's fourth largest
oil producer. It is also the fifth largest natural gas producer
with an output of 327 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD).
Unocal's deepwater oil and gas resource will become the first
deepwater resource to be developed in the country.
The government has given some incentives for contractors to
develop oil and gas resources in deepwater, frontier and marginal
fields as oil and gas discoveries have rarely been made in
conventional areas over the past decade.
The government takes 75 percent of oil output and between 60
percent and 55 percent of gas output from the development of
frontier and deepwater areas, leaving the remainder for the
contractors. In conventional areas, the government takes 85
percent of the oil and gas output.
Unocal also said in a statement it has provided two relief
packages worth $700,000 and $87,000 respectively to help
Indonesians during the monetary crisis.
The packages, which were channeled through the charity group
CARE, included medical supports and financial assistance for the
education of children of families heavily affected by the crisis.
(jsk)