Showing posts with label CNOOC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CNOOC. Show all posts

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A Week in Indonesian Oil & Gas - July 20-27, 2013



 Foreign Investments

BISNIS INDONESIA discussed a certain slowdown of foreign investments this year, noting that investors now are awaiting the results of the next year’s presidential elections. Several interesting points are mentioned:
- There is a lack of foreign investors who would like to be a pioneer in an industry.
- The lack of labor absorption by domestic investors, when compared to foreign investors. In Q2/2013 foreign investors had absorbed 386,566 jobs, while domestic investors only employed 239,810 workers.
That is why foreign investments are important.
Thus, the problem of incentives for investors was raised this week. This is a hot issue in Oil & Gas industry (as it is seen in the matter of oil refineries). At this time, the Indonesian government has put forward certain fiscal incentives to draw the investors in - goods and equipment for upstream oil and gas activities are now exempted from customs duties and value-added tax.
So, this week announcement of Bambang Brodjonegoro, Acting Head of Fiscal Policy Agency, was widely commented and discussed. Mr. Brodjonegoro revealed that the Ministry is preparing new tax incentives aimed at increasing of investment attractiveness of Indonesia:
- The bigger investment, the better incentives.
- Tax holidays (exemption to pay taxes for employers for a certain period) – currently valid from 5 to 10 years. They are applied to base metal, oil refining and basic petrochemical, machinery, renewable energy and telecommunication equipment — with a minimum value investment of Rp 1 trillion (US$97.08 million), plus store at least 10% of those funds in Indonesian banks. New regulation will have some relaxation (incentives for investments less than Rp 1 trillion), especially for some industries that require investments for longer period; or for industry with a small minimum value of investment.
- Tax allowances (relief or tax reduction for employers for a certain period) – reduce taxable income up to 30% of overall investments realized over six years, are available for 129 labor-intensive business sectors in remote areas with a minimum investment of Rp 50 billion. This would be made more attractive, since currently there are lots of procedural issues
- The so-called intermediate industries (that produce semi-finished materials) will see a combination of incentives: in tax and import duty areas.
New regulations regarding tax incentives will be announced at the end of 2013 and will take effect in early 2014.

Oil & Gas Exploration is a Must


  • Rudi Rubiandini, SKK Migas Head, announced this week that the agency instructed all operators and field contractors to boost exploration in order to find new reserves. He cited the limited availability of resources - according to recent estimates Indonesia will run out of gas and oil in respectively 44 and 12 years. The alarming figure was released - new discovered oil reserves are only 21.3% of the total potential. 

1. WK Ambalat with operator ENI, the Italian oil and gas company. 
2. WK East Ambalat with operator Chevron. 
3. WK Anambas with operator AWE. 
4. WK Arafurasi with operator ChonocoPhillips. 
5. WK Cakalan wuth operator Lundin. 
6. WK Serica East Seruway with operator KrisEnergy. 
7. WK grouper with Pearl Oil operator. 
8. WK North East Nantuna with Titan operator. 
9. WK Tuna with operator Premier Oil. 
10. WK Octopus with operator Lundin. 
11. WK Sebatik with Star Energy operator. 
12. WK South East Energy Parung Hammers, by operator CNOOC. 
13. WK North Sokang, with North Sokang Energy operator. 
14. WK South Sokang, with Black Platinum operator

  •  Discussion this week was centered on the  SKK’s pessimistic revision of oil lifting target in the 2013 to 840,000 barrels per day (from previous 900,000). One of the major causes are the maintenance problems in some of oil and gas fields (Tangguh, Papua; Bontang, East Kalimantan; Cilegon, Banten). This definitely leads to decrease of state revenue by Rp18 trillion. However, Mr. Rubiandini notes that state revenues still be compensated by raises of the oil price. As an addition – three new wells at the West Madura Offshore Block would provide increase.


1. POP-1 wells Bamboo Mountain (Pertamina EP) 
2. Well Acacia Large POP-1 (Pertamina EP) 
3. POD TBR-JAM-CDN (Mobil Cepu Ltd.) 
4. POFD Klalin (Petrochina Bermuda) 
5. POFD Bekapai Phase 2A (Total E & P) 
6. POP-1 wells Bengal (Pertamina EP) 
7. Northern Harvest POP-1 (PetroChina Jabung) 
8. POD Complex Phase-1 Nail Elephants (Pertamina EP) 
9. POFD Field Sepinggan (PT CPI)
The other ones are still in dicusssion:
1. POFD Minas Field (PT CPI) 
2. POFD Gajah Baru Field, Dragon, Iguana (Premier Oil) 
3. POFD Field Lampake (Vico) 
4. POFD Bekapai Phase 2B (Total E & P) 
5. POFD Field Abab (Pertamina EP)
6. POFD Field King (Pertamina EP) 
7. POFD Field Gods (Pertamina EP) 
8. Well Tapen POP-01 (Pertamina EP) 
9. Lyrics POFD Field North (Pertamina EP)

  • Pertamina Asset 2 reported that they plan to drill 22 new wells to support an increase in oil production of 4,000 barrels per day this year. That requires investment of approximately U.S. $ 4 million - $ 5 million per well. Pertamina Asset 2 is located in South Sumatra, and includes Prabumulih Field, Pendopo Field, Field Rimau and Field Adera. Total oil production generated by the assets reach 22,000 BOPD, gas production assets in Pertamina 2 reach 460 MMSCFD and 388 MMSCFD of gas shale. In addition to drilling of new wells Pertamina EP Asset 2 performs enhanced oil recovery (EOR) procedures on 18 wells.  

 Mahakam and 51% ownership by Pertamina ?

Continuing the story of Mahakam Block. This week the data was released showing that Pertamina has the ability to operate and manage offshore oil and gas blocks. PT Pertamina Hulu Energi West Madura Offshore (PHE WMO) managed to increase its production by 70% in the last two years.
In May 2011, WMO block production was 13,000 barrels; now is  22,200 barrels per day – that is 70% rise. Thus, Pertamina hopes that the Government will assign to it management of Mahakam block after the contract with Total E & P is completed in 2017.
WMO block oil production will continue to be improved – it is expected that by the end of 2013 production could reach 28,000 bpd. 21 production wells and nine exploration wells are planned to be drilled this year. In addition, PHE WMO new project is to complete installation of new subsea pipeline connecting several new production platform with Poleng Processing Platform (PPP).
Pertamina had earlier prepared a development plan in Mahakam Block, East Kalimantan; with the plan to get 51% Participating Interest (PI) of that block in 2017.

New Problem in Operations?

I have described in previous posts some problems that Indonesian Oil & Gas Industry faces (red tape, difficulties with local administrations, etc.). As an example, by the end of May, PetroChina had access to 14 of its oil and gas wells in Sumatra, producing 433 barrels of oil and around 11 million standard cubic feet of gas daily, blocked by a local government hoping to secure energy supply.
This week a new one surfaced - theft. Pertamina was forced to shut down its Tempino-Plaju pipeline in Sumatra (a week after start of its operations) following illegal tapping of the line. This is recently restored pipeline that delivers crude from wells in Jambi province to Pertamina’s Plaju refinery in Palembang, South Sumatra. It is interesting to note that this new pipeline was constructed to replace old ones that were damaged by illegal tapping.
Average losses thanks to the oil theft are up 18% from the 12,000 barrels of oil delivered per day. The losses amount to $1.7M just in one week.  This goes on for quite a while, but  recently, according to Pertamina, the business became well planned and organized. The company reported to police 144 times, but only 4 cased reached the court. BISNIS INDONESIA reports that financial loss due to oil theft continues to increase each year:  2010 -- IDR15 billion; in 2011 - IDR177 billion 2012 - IDR300 billion; first half of this year, the loss reached IDR37 billion. Pertamina asked the Army to cooperate, but this cannot deter perforating of 2 meter depth line.

Oilfield Equipment Market is USD 93.74 billion

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Oilfield Equipment Market (Drilling Equipments, Field Production Machinery, Pumps and Valves and Other) - Global and U.S. Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the global market for oilfield equipment was valued at USD 93.74 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach USD 117.37 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2012 to 2018.

IPOs for Oil & Gas Companies

There is a good example for Oil & Gas Companies to be listed in Asia. Rex International Holding Limited, an independent oil exploration firm, launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the Catalist Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited to raise up to $67.7 million. The public offer consists of 2.5 million shares at $0.40 each and including over-allotment, Rex is expected to place out 168 million shares at $0.40 for its proposed listing on the Catalist Board. The IPO opened July 22 and will close July 29. Most of the proceeds will be used for exploration and drilling (In this page there is a good description). BISNIS INDONESIA reported this week that some Pertamina’s companies are ready to be listed on Indonesian Stock Exchange: PT Pertamina Gas, PT Geothermal Energi, PT Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia.

Friday, June 14, 2013

News Update: Week 24-2013



Parliament Oil & Gas Hearings. This week the leaders of industry were invited to the Commission VII hearings. These were the top management of SKK MIgas, Pertamina EP, Pertamina ONWJ, Chevron Indonesia, Exxon Mobil, CNOOC, ConocoPhillips, Total E & P Indonesia, PetroChina, BOB PT BSP-Pertamina Hulu , and Vico.
The major issue was discussion of lifting of production according to directions by Indonesian President: target of 1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd).

  • Rudi Rubiandini, the head of SKKMigas, said that the country was likely to produce 870,000 bpd throughout next year. The most optimistic is 900,000 bpd – in case if production of ExxonMobil at the Banyu Urip field in the Cepu Block in East Java can start in June (land-acquisition issues) – If not, the number is 880,000.
  • Eric Isaacson, ConocoPhillips Indonesia, President Director, confirmed discussions are going on for the next year’s target of 29,000 bpd set by SKKMigas.
  • Syamsu Alam, President Director of Pertamina EP, stated that problems in land acquisition, licensing for oil and gas drilling prevent from fulfilling the target: of 123 development wells the company is currently only able to drill 64.


SKKMigas Points of View. Rudi Rubiandini, made a presentation this week where he pinpointed some interesting issues in the sector:

  • One constraint is that lawmakers are pressuring SKKMigas to push oil and gas companies to lower the cost recovery in their business plans. SKKMigas submitted a proposal that requested the House of Representatives to approve $17.5 billion in cost recovery from the oil and gas sector this year. But lawmakers have been criticizing the regulator as saying the figure is too large, and that it should be lowered to just $15 billion.
  • There is a lack of talent to help develop the industry. “There is a brain drain in this sector. Smart Indonesians who understand this sector … they’ve already run away overseas. They’ve gone to Qatar, Australia, the United States or Norway”.
  • Still a high level of bureaucracy: permits and social issues that were still major stumbling blocks. “In [West Papua’s] Tangguh project for example, there are 5,000 permits required before it can go on-stream,” he noted

Pertamina Goals to Surpass Chevron. This week Pertamina announced its oil production has surpassed 200,000 barrels per day for the first time (actually, 208,157 barrels). In April it was 204,649 barrels per day; while natural gas production was 1,565 million standard cubic feet per day. This increase was driven by PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore North West Java (PHE ONWJ) and PT Pertamina Hulu Energi West Madura Offshore (PHE WMO) production hike.  Muhamad Husen, Pertamina Upstream Director, confirmed the ambition to overtake Chevron Pacific Indonesia; at the same time by 2025 to be a major player in South-East Asia – through enhancing its operations and M&A activities. One practical announcement was made that Pertamina will start exploiting oil from Algeria in the next few months: this would increase its reserve by 100 million barrels per day and additional crude oil output of 23,000 barrels per day.
              Komaidi Notonegoro, Deputy Director ReforMiner, Research Institute for Mining and Energy Economics,  revealed this week that oil reserves of Pertamina (609 million barrels) are expected to be depleted within the next 8 years - on assumption that the average oil production of Pertamina in April 2013 amounted to 204,649 bpd. For its gas reserves (7.8 trillion cubic feet), Komaidi predicted to be finished in 14 years - on assumption of average production of 1,565 mmscfd of gas in April.  Thus, the only way out is to aggressively conduct exploration activities on existing fields and continue to target oil fields inside and outside country.

 Moving to East? Eastern Indonesia (as I mentioned in my previous Post) is one of the attractions for new developments in Oil & Gas production. However, it is not cheap – according to Mr. Nugrahani, Exploration Director of SKKMigas, the cost of drilling of one exploration well is about $ 200M. It would probably take quite a while, mentioned Mr. Nugrahani, citing the experience of Inpex in Abadi field: production is supposed to start in 2018, while the first drilling was conducted in 1992. This is compared to development in Western part of Indonesia where the time span is around 5 years. The GOI (Dobernment of Indonesia) is sure that east will move on, as it was proved by Inpex with Masela and BP with the Tangguh gas plant in West Papua. Another success was reported this week for Lion Energy (ASX: LIO) athat is doing onshore oil production on Seram Island, Eastern Indonesia: crude oil lifting of 300,744 barrels was completed on May 30th 2013, with Lion's share of the lifting expected to be around US$650,000

Exploration failures. According to the latest reports, as of May 2013, Indonesia has 168 oil and gas blocks under exploration and 21 others in the process of being relinquished to the government. It was reported this week that 12 companies reported $1.9 billion in losses in exploration of 25 wells for deep-sea hydrocarbon reserves offshore Indonesia since 2009. Among these are: ExxonMobil in Surumana and Mandar; Statoil in Karama; ConocoPhillips in Kuma, Amborip VI, and Arafura Sea; Talisman in Sageri; Marathon in Pasang Kayu, Tately in Budong-Budong; Japex in Buton; CNOOC in SE Palung Aru; Hess in Semai IV; Niko Resources in Kofiau, West Papua IV, and North Makassar Strait, and Murphy Oil in Semai. As the result, they want to return 16 exploration blocks under its management to the GOI. Aslo 2 oil and gas deep water exploration blocks (Kumawa and Bone Bay) will be transferred from Marathon Oil to Niko Resources.

EOR Upswing? According to Muhamad Husen, Pertamina Upstream Director, the company could achieve an additional 200,000 barrels per day from its enhanced oil recovery programs in the next two years. The company is looking for partners with proven track record in the application of EOR technologies. In 2013 the company plans to introduce EOR technology in 18 of its oil blocks. However, this is mostly using injection of chemicals before drilling. Meanwhile, it was announced in the North Kalimantan city of Tarakan that the plan is under way to revive 47 oil wells out of the more than 1,346 abandoned (since 1970-ies) wells in the area. Presently Pertamina has only 80 wells in the city that still produce oil (output at around 700 barrels per day and falling 20-30%).

New Indonesian Oil Terminal. Gunvor Group and Oiltanking GmbH announced this week the plans for construction of a greenfield terminal, Oiltanking Karimun, on the island of Karimun (Riau Islands), Indonesia, with initial petroleum storage capacity of 760,000 cbm. This would be targeted to meet the incremental petroleum storage needs of Greater Singapore. The terminal is expected to be operational by second quarter 2015;  will cater to the storage and handling of both light and black oil products. The initial capacity will be supported by four jetties capable of accommodating vessels of up to VLCC dimensions.

Global Oilfield Rental Market - 2013 Report. It was released by Research and Markets this week, and some interesting observations are made there:

  • Rising oil & gas prices and increasing drilling activity will drive the global oilfield equipment rental (oilfield rental) market to $46.8 billion by 2018.
  • The factors driving growth in the OER market are increasing drilling activity and rising oil prices. These factors are driving the production of uneconomical field viable, tendency of drilling contractor & oilfield service providers to rent rather than buy equipment, and advancements in technology that hugely favors renting. Oilfield rental is a highly developing market despite its large base due to growing energy demand.
  • Oilfield rental industry is highly fragmented and localized. Most players in this industry are very small and have a very paltry area of influence, barring a few which are genuinely the rental divisions of big OFS (oilfield service) provider companies. One's offering rental tools in unconventional shale plays and ultra deep-water fields are the most successful rental companies

These are the points that I consider the most interesting in the week that passed. The readers are encouraged to send commentaries.