Jakarta - PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam, a subsidiary of PT Pertamina Hulu Indonesia (PHI) - Regional 3 Kalimantan, has succeeded in obtaining a new discovery in the Manpatu-1x Mahakam working area which is located in the off coast of East Kalimantan. This has been the first discovery for Indonesia in the early 2022.

PHI-Regional 3 Kalimantan Exploration Vice President, Bayu Giriansyah, has stated that, Manpatu-1x is an exploration well site in the South Mahakam area, precisely located in the open waters of the coast of Balikpapan which is an exploration discovery between existing oil and gas fields. Thus, the monetization can be carried out with tie-ins to the nearest existing field facility.

Bayu affirmed that, “The drilling started on October 20, 2021, using the Rig Hakuryu-14 and it had achieved to a depth of 3776.4 meters on December 9, 2021. Not to mention, the achievement in finding oil and gas hydrocarbon layers with a total net pay thickness of 207 meters at the intervals of the Sepinggan Delta Sequence and Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence with exceptional reservoir quality,”

The Drill Steam Test/DST-1 was carried out on January 3, 2022, on the main target reservoir with gas rate at 32/64” of 15 million standard cubic feet and condensate of 500 barrels per day. In addition to the main target, a reservoir zone was identified in the Sepinggan Carbonate Sequence that will be carried out for further flow testing. The work on DST-1 was witnessed directly by Fatar Yani Abdurahman (Deputy Head of SKK Migas) and his team, as well as the Pertamina Hulu Indonesia team which are represented by Bayu Giriansyah (VP Regional Exploration-3) and Agus Amperianto (General Manager, Pertamina Hulu Mahakam Zone-8)

Agus Amperianto has conveyed PHM's commitment to continue running safe, effective, and superior oil and gas operations. This way, the Mahakam WK can contribute significantly and sustainably in achieving the national oil and gas production targets. Agus stated that, “The exploration drilling of Manpatu-1x well was carried out while maintaining high HSSE performance, adhering to the Covid-19 protocol in a disciplined manner and implementing the operational excellence. This success has driven force to our enthusiasm to continue carrying out drilling activities which is important for the sustainability of oil and gas production from the Mahakam WK.”

Meanwhile, the President Director of PHI-Regional 3 Kalimantan, Chalid Said Salim has revealed that the discovery of gas from this exploration well is one of the achievements of the company's strategy in increasing the reserves and maintaining oil and gas production through exploration drilling and development (exploitation) activities.

Chalid explained that, “PHI-Regional 3 Kalimantan has several strategies, specifically: aggressive exploration activities to find new resources with new play concepts; optimization of baseline and development to increase production; expanding the synergy/borderless strategy in exploration, development and operation activities; cost optimization through OPTIMUS program and the application of technological innovations, methods, materials, which are more cost efficient; commercial portfolio optimization; and maintenance programs to maintain the reliability of production facilities in producing oil and gas for Indonesia.”

This discovery in early 2022 is important for Indonesia which demonstrates Pertamina’s commitment in adding national oil and gas reserves to achieve Indonesia’s production target of 1 milion barrel oil per day and 12 billion standard cubic feet gas per day in 2030.