Harbour Energy is expected to start gas production from its Andaman II Block offshore Indonesia in 2028, according to a senior Indonesian government official.
In July, UK-listed Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) announced initial success at its play-opening deepwater Timpan-1 exploration well offshore Indonesia in the North Sumatra basin at the Andaman II Block. The initial result bodes well for the frontier area and could open more petroleum plays, which are thought to be gas prone.
Production at the block is targeted to start-up in 2028 with estimated gas output of 155 million cubic feet per day to 259 million cf/d, according to a recent presentation by Tutuka Ariadji, director general of oil and gas at Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. He added that Harbour is expected to submit a plan of development in 2025 after further appraisal and exploration drilling in 2023 to gather more data on the upstream acreage.
In December 2021, Harbour said it had already identified potential commercialisation paths with first gas eyed by 2026, as well as options for carbon capture and storage (CCS). “It’s a great address for any discovery to supply domestic and regional energy demand. Importantly, there is already established oil and gas infrastructure to support our activity,” the company said at the time.
However, it’s worth noting that Harbour recently cautioned that “permeability was on the low side of expectations” at its Timpan-1 exploration well.
As a result, Harbour will be seeking an improved incentives package to encourage further investment. Upstream regulator SKK Migas is believed to be preparing incentives to encourage development of the discovery despite the lower-than-expected reservoir quality.
Harbour’s success has ignited a flurry of interest in the region offshore Aceh and the Aceh Upstream Oil and Gas Management Agency (BPMA) is also looking at providing incentives to boost oil and gas exploration.
Premier Oil, now a Harbour company, holds a 40% operated interest at the Andaman II Block. It said it has a strong supportive partnership with BP (LON:BP) and Mubadala, both partners in the PSC.
Spain’s Repsol (BME:REP) and partner Petronas are now drilling a deep-water well in Andaman Block III next door to the Harbour-operated acreage.
Mubadala Petroleum, a partner in the Timpan-1 well, has said the exploration results were especially important as an indication that the adjacent fields the Andaman I and South Andaman, which it operates with 80% interest, will also include material under-explored resources, reinforcing the potential to help meet energy demand in the region and align with its expansion plans in Indonesia.
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