Medco Energi, which operates South Natuna Sea Block B, will share a jack-up drilling rig with four other operators offshore Indonesia as part of a pact that will save millions of dollars.
Medco signed a contract amendment with Vantage Drilling that will allow it to jointly use the jack-up rig Soehanah, which is currently drilling for Premier Oil.
Under the amended contract, Medco will jointly use the rig with Harbour Energy company Premier Oil, Mubadala Petroleum, KUFPEC and Petronas Carigali to drill 12 development wells, 1 workover well and five exploration wells, reported Petromindo.
Upstream regulator SKK Migas said the deal will give certainty about rig availability, schedule and help cut costs. The deal will cut Medco’s costs by $5 million and $3.5 million to the other four operators, said SKK Migas.
Westwood Global Energy reported last month that Medco has issued a tender seeking a jack-up drilling rig for work between 1 June and 1 October 2022 for the South Natuna Sea Block B. The program is currently defined as three firm wells plus five options.
“A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for early August, and the tender is said to close on 2 September. This opportunity is likely to see Vantage Drilling and China Oilfield Service Ltd (COSL) to both show added interest, given that both have suitable units to propose that are in country. Medco used Vantage jack-up Soehanah during its last campaign in 2020,” Westwood said in its report.
The South Natuna Sea Block B (SNSBB) is a large and fragmented PSC that covers a number of oil and gas fields in the Natuna Sea and was formerly operated by ConocoPhillips. Oil has been produced since 1979, and peaked in the mid-1990s. Several fields have reached the end of their productive lives and have been now shut-in.