Malaysian Genting Gets Indonesian Go-ahead
Malaysian Genting has received a go ahead from Indonesia authorities for first phase of plan of development (POD 1) for the Asap, Merah and Kido (AMK) structures with in the concession area for the Kasuri Block in West Papua, Indonesia, it said May 4.
The approval has been received by Genting's 95%-owned indirect subsidiary Genting Oil & Gas (GOGL), via its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary Genting Oil Kasuri (GOKPL).
The POD 1 is the culmination of extensive drilling and 2D and 3D seismic activities in the Kasuri block over a number of years and marks the next step for GOKPL to commence the development phase of the Kasuri PSC, Genting said. The POD 1 will utilise 1.7 trillion ft3 of gas reserves in the Roabiba formation in the AMK structures. GOKPL plans to supply 170mn ft3/d of natural gas for 20 years to a petrochemical plant to be built in the Teluk Bintuni area, subject to all necessary approvals being obtained from the Indonesian government.
GOGL has been engaged in discussion and a study with a Chinese state-owned enterprise in relation to the potential supply of gas produced from GOKPL under the POD1 to a petrochemical plant that is proposed to be owned by the Chinese company.
On top of the 1.7 trillion ft3 gas allocated for the POD 1, the Kasuri Block possesses high potential for further development, Genting said, adding that there are more than 10 prospective structures identified within the acreage.
The Kasuri block also has multiple-stacked gas bearing formations. The POD 1 relates to the development of the Roabiba formation, which is one of the six identified gas bearing formations. "The approval of the POD 1 is a significant milestone for the Genting Group. While we progress from the exploration to the development phase of the Kasuri PSC, we are equally excited about the highly prospective Steenkool formation, which was discovered and tested when we drilled our Kido Shallow1X well,” said T.S. Ong, Genting Oil & Gas CEO.
Seismic data is being re-processed to identify more prospects in Steenkool formation. It is estimated that the Steenkool formation alone can contribute additional 1 to 2 trillion ft3 of gas resources to the Kasuri Block, Ong said. “There is also the Kais formation, which is karstic limestone that is widely distributed in the Kasuri Block, with thickness ranging between 1,000 m to 3,000 m. The sheer volume of the limestone points to the tremendous potential of the Kais formation - if proven to be gas bearing, it will increase our Kasuri gas resources by many times.”
Overall, GOKPL plans to develop the Kasuri Block in phases using a modular concept. Under the POD 1, GOKPL will commence with the front end engineering design for the gas pipelines, gas gathering stations, gas processing plant and other facilities to produce 1.7 trillion ft3 of gas from the AMK structures. Additional gas resources discovered in the Steenkool and Kais formations and in future exploration can be used to either prolong the production life and increase the capacity of the above mentioned petrochemical plant as a variation to the POD 1, or supply gas for an entirely new development such as LNG facilities under a new plan of development, Genting said.