The East Natuna gas field (former name: Natuna D-Alpha block) is a large

natural gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

located in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

off northern Natuna Island, Indonesia. It is within the disagreed area claimed by China.

History

The field was discovered in 1973 by

Agip Agip (''Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli'', en, General Italian Oil Company) is an Italian automotive gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926. It has been a subsidiary of the multinational petroleu ...

. In 1980, the Indonesian state-owned oil company Pertamina and Exxon formed a joint venture to develop Natuna D-Alpha. However, due to the high content the partnership was not able to start production. In 1995, the Indonesian government signed a contract with Exxon but in 2007, the contract was terminated. In 2008, the block was awarded to Pertamina. The new agreement was signed between Pertamina and ExxonMobil in 2010. Correspondingly, the field was renamed East Natuna to be geographically more precise. In 2011, the principal of agreement was signed between Pertamina, ExxonMobil,

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...

and Petronas. In 2012, Petronas was replaced by PTT Exploration and Production. As of 2016, negotiations about the new principal of agreement have not finalized and consequently, a production sharing contract is not signed.

Reserves and development

The East Natuna gas field is located in the Greater Sarawak Basin (East Natuna Basin) about north of Jakarta and northeast of the Natuna Islands covering approximately . The reservoir is at a water depth of within the Miocene Terumbu Formation with a crest at subsea. A maximum column height is . The thickness of the formation varies between . The estimated resource in place of the East Natuna field is around , of which total

proven reserves Proven reserves (also called measured reserves, 1P, and reserves) is a measure of fossil fuel energy reserves, such as oil reserves, natural gas reserves, and coal reserves. It is defined as the " antity of energy sources estimated with reasona ...

of natural gas are , and production is forecast to be around . The content of the resource is about 71%. The development of East Natuna is expected to cost US$20–40 billion. To save costs, the joint development of East Natuna, Tuna block (

Premier Oil Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

65%, Mitsui Oil Exploration 35%), and South Natuna Sea Block B ( ConocoPhillips 40%, Inpex 35%, Chevron Corporation 25%) has been proposed. Production is expected to be viable only if the oil price exceeds $100 per barrel. The production is expected to start not before 2030.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:East Natuna Gas Field Natural gas fields in Indonesia Natuna Regency South China Sea