Australia-based Indonesian oil producer Bass Oil has signed an agreement to acquire a 100% participating interest in the North Madura Production Sharing Contract (PSC) area in coastal shallow waters north of the eastern quarters of the Indonesian island of Java.
Image: Australia’s Bass Oil to acquire North Madura PSC in Indonesia. Photo courtesy of suwatpo/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Bass Oil will also assume the operatorship under the PSC. The PSC area is adjacent to several oil and gas fields and existing export infrastructure.
The transaction will be subject to the execution of a sale and purchase agreement and regulatory approvals.
Under the PSC, one well will be drilled, and if it is successful, two contingent wells will be drilled.
The acquisition is expected to expand Bass’ Indonesian energy footprint, including oil production from onshore wells in southern Sumatra.
Earlier studies of the PSC area, including high definition 2D seismic, have identified a series of structural closures in a stacked shelf-edge carbonate reef system, in water depths of less than 50 meters.
Bass technical team has evaluated previous work and will commence planning in 2019 for drilling the prospect as soon as possible.
Reog prospect has been identified as the leading candidate for fulfilling the well commitment. Reog is located between two fields producing from the same reef build-up play.
The two adjacent producing fields are Ujung Pangkah, 3km to the west, where production in 2017 averaged 9,100 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 44 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfg/d), and Bukit Tua where production averaged 17,000 bopd and 33mmscfg/d in 2017.
The previous operator has identified over 20 mapped structural closures at the Top Kujung I Reef level within the North Madura PSC. The Reog-Dyah Complex area in the southern block contains a series of SW-NE trending structural closures forming a shelf edge/barrier reef complex at Top Kujung I Reef surface. Of these, the Reog prospect is the largest and is located less than 3km from the Ujung Pangkah field.
The acquisition of a 100% interest in the PSC will provide Bass the opportunity to offset risk and to have a partner share in the costs associated with the proposed drilling program.
The company has identified several commercialization options utilizing existing infrastructure in the event of a new commercial discovery.