Page 11 - AsianOil Week 36

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in less than two years. The production of 400mn cubic feet per day is just from the first phase and we are still making discoveries from the SK408 block,” said Zamri. The partners reached a final investment decision (FID) on the project in March 2018.
Commenting on the gas sales agreement, Shahril said the field’s production start-up should help bolster his company’s financial position.
While Sapura Energy returned to the black in financial year 2019, which ended on
January 31, its profitability was driven solely by the MYR2.66bn ($638mn) sale of a 50% stake in its upstream business to OMV in November 2018. This saw the company post a net profit of MYR207.5mn ($49.8mn), compared with a net loss of MYR2.5bn ($600mn) in the previous financial period.
“I cannot say whether Sapura Energy will be profitable next year, but I believe that the pro- duction from SK408 will help with the situation,” said Shahril at a press conference.™
Pertamina seeks partner for Rokan block
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
INDONESIA’S state-owned Pertamina is look- ing for a strategic partner to help boost output from the Rokan oil block as it gears up to take over the licence in 2021.
US super-major Chevron will begin moving operatorship of the country’s second largest oil- field to the state company from 2020, Pertam- ina upstream director Dharmawan Samsu told reporters on September 4.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Indonesia International Geothermal Convention and Exhi- bition (IIGCE), Samsu said his company would begin drilling new production wells in order to maintain output from the field. Pertamina signed a new 20-year, gross split production-sharing contract (PSC) with the government in May, allowing it to begin investing in the block before Chevron’s contract expires in August 2021.
Pertamina paid the government a $784mn signature bonus for the block in 2018. The com- pany set up Pertamina Hulu Rokan to operate the play and committed to an initial $500mn, five-year working commitment. It also prom- ised $57bn in potential state revenue over the contract’s lifespan.
Samsu said his company intended to begin chemical injection enhanced oil recovery (EOR) at the block from 2021. Upstream regulator SKK Migas believes that EOR can more than double Rokan’s existing production.
Rokan produced 190,600 barrels per day of oil in the first half of the year, according to SKK Migas data, down from 196,515 bpd in the Janu- ary-April period.
“Rokan can produce 400,000 bpd if EOR is carried out,” CNBC Indonesia quoted SKK Migas’ deputy head of operations, Fatar Yani Abdurrahman, as saying on September 9. The official added that Chevron had been reluctant to conduct EOR at the block because of low inter- national oil prices in recent years.
“Chemical prices used to be close to oil prices. Now it is more competitive, hopefully oil prices do not drop after Pertamina takes over,” Fatar Yani said.
Despite Pertamina announcing at the start of the year that it would reduce upstream investment to $2.5bn in 2019 from $2.9bn invested in 2018, the company wants to raise its oil production from 392,000 bpd to 414,000 bpd this year.™
Image: Chevron
Week 36 11•September•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P11