Pertamina Plans Seismic Surveys in Malacca Strait
Indonesian state-owned Pertamina announced July 9 that it will carry out 2D seismic surveys in the Malacca Strait, Aceh.
The surveys are an important step for Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) subsidiaries to innovate and contribute to supporting national energy security, PHE managing director Meidawati said. “Throughout 2018 until mid-2019 PHE has drilled six exploration wells," Meidawati said.
Seismic activity at the exploration stage aims to find subsurface images which will be the basis of the petroleum system modeling. That will allow the company to find out the location of hydrocarbon accumulation along with the size of the reserves, PHE said.
The surveys will cover the East Aceh and North Aceh regions, which are directly adjacent to Thai and Malaysian waters. The company hopes that the results will confirm hydrocarbon accumulation with the potential for a mainstay field that will hold back the rate of decline in production. Pertamina is seeking reserves to replace the Arun gas field, which once produced around 460mn ft3/day.
The seismic surveys will be completed this month. “Furthermore, these seismic results will be followed up with seismic processing, interpretation and modeling so that it can be used in proposing exploration drilling wells to increase reserves,” the company said.