Indonesia Approves US$3.35bil Revised Development Plan For Eni’s Merakes Gas Fields

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Indonesia has approved a revised plan of development for its Merakes and Merakes East gas fields with a total investment of US$3.35 billion, its upstream oil and gas regulator said on Tuesday.

The project operated by the local unit of Italian energy company Eni started gas production in April 2021 and supplies to the Bontang LNG facility in East Kalimantan province.

“The development of this field will provide additional reserves to ensure supply to the East Kalimantan System so that the Bontang LNG refinery can operate more optimally,” Dwi Soetjipto, the chairman of regulator SKK Migas, said in a statement.

Investment for Merakes was initially set at $1.3 billion with peak production at 368 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).

SKK Migas spokesperson Mohammad Kemal said the new development plan could increase the project’s total production capacity to maximum 440 MMSCFD.

Italy’s Eni did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

SKK Migas said the fields were expected to be onstream until 2032. Indonesia has a target of reaching 1 million barrels of oil per day and 12 billion standard cubic feet per day gas lifting by 2030, to meet rising domestic energy demands. – Reuters

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