JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - BP Indonesia prepares an investment values of US$4 billion for Ubadari field to explore proven gas reserves in the block, said the government official last week. The energy producer plans to develop Ubadari field to support Tangguh LNG refinery and and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage in Bintuni Bay, West Papua.
Commented on the planned, Christina Verchere, BP Regional President Asia Pacific, stated, “This final investment decision marks the culmination of many years of hard work by BP, our partners, and the Indonesian Government. We are pleased to reach this major milestone and look forward to continued cooperation as we progress the largest upstream project in the eastern part of Indonesia.”
This decision, she continued, followed the government of Indonesia’s approval of the Plan of Development II in late 2012. For background, the Ubadari field was discovered in 1997 and exploration drilling began in 2017.
Dwi Soetjipto, head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKKMigas), explained this project is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by around 45 percent. For Indonesia, he adds, the implementation of the carbon storage will also support the implementing of Paris Agreement in 2015, in which the government is committed to reducing carbon emissions from 41 percent to 29 percent by 2030.
He hope that the discussion with BP will soon produce a second plan of development of the Ubadari Field. With this expansion its expecting total output of the block will increase to 3.8 million tones per annum (MTPA), bringing total plant capacity around 11.4 MTPA. The project included two offshore platforms, 13 new production wells, an expanded LNG loading facility, also supporting infrastructure.
It said, 75 percent of the Train 3 annual production will sold to state electricity producer, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), and the remaining to Kansai Electric Power Company from Japan.
SKKMigas has reported crude oil and natural gas liftings has missed the targets because of technical issues and postponements at some LNG projects. In the first quarter of 2021, the crude oil lifting were 676,200 barrels per day (bpd) because of a higher water ratio in some of the oil wells and investment delays at some oil and gas projects because of the COVID-19 disruption last year.
In detailed, the natural gas liftings were 5,539 MMSCFD, down from its target of 5,638 MMSCFD. The biggest gap for gas lifting was in BP Tangguh LNG project because the targets to be on-stream in 2021 shifted to the end of this year or early 2022.
The start of operations of Train 3 at the block located in Bintuni bay, West Papua, was pushed back again because of labour restrictions during the pandemic. However, he said, SKKMigas still maintaining this year’ lifting outlooks as investments in upstream oil and gas sector are set to recover.
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