Eni Finds Gas Offshore Indonesia

Italian energy firm Eni on Monday announced a gas discovery in the Merakes exploration prospect, in the East Sepinggan block offshore Indonesia.

Eni is operator with a 100 percent stake. The block is located in the offshore East Kalimantan (Borneo), 170 kilometres south of the Bontang LNG Plant and 35 kilometres from the offshore Jangkrik field, also operated by Eni.

The finding was made through the Merakes 1 well which was drilled at a water depth of 1,372 metres and reached a total depth of 2,640 metres, Eni said.

Merakes is the first exploration well drilled by Eni in the East Sepinggan Block, which was assigned to the company in 2012 following an International Bid Round. 

According to Eni, Merakes finding potential has been preliminary estimated to be 1,3 Trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in place.

Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s CEO said: "Merakes finding is a significant one as it strengthens our position as operator in Indonesia. Moreover thanks to its proximity to the Jangkrik field, which is currently under development, this new gas finding could supply in the future additional gas volumes to the Bontang LNG plant."

Eni has been operating in Indonesia since 2001 and currently has a large portfolio of assets in exploration, production and development.