Indonesia: SKK Migas Approves Plans for Ubadari Gas Field and Vorwata CCUS Project

Indonesian oil and gas regulator SKK Migas has approved the Plan of Development (POD) for the Ubadari gas field and Vorwata Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project, as the next stage of development at the Tangguh LNG project in Papua Barat, Indonesia, BP has informed.

This new development is estimated to enable a potential additional recovery of 1.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, from both the Ubadari and Vorwata CCUS.

"The Ubadari field development is being fast-tracked as a result of a successful appraisal program and is planned to be produced via normally unmanned installations connected by offshore pipeline to the Tangguh LNG facilities," BP said Monday.

The Vorwata CCUS development will see approximately 25 million tonnes of CO2 injected back into the Vorwata reservoir to reduce venting of the great majority of produced CO2 and provide incremental gas production through enhanced gas recovery (EGR).

The CO2 injection will remove up to 90% of the reservoir-associated CO2 which is currently vented and represents nearly half of the Tangguh LNG emissions. This would make Tangguh one of the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity LNG plants in the world, BP said.

The Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the Ubadari field development and Vorwata CCUS will start in mid-2022 subject to Tangguh partners’ and further SKK Migas approval, with a potential estimated project start up in 2026 subsequent to a final investment decision.

Tangguh is currently the largest gas producing field in the country with 1.4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of gas production through two LNG trains and will reach 2.1 Bcf per day once Train 3, currently under construction, is online. Tangguh expansion project including the construction of Train 3 has been declared as a National Strategic Project by the Government of Indonesia.

BP as the operator holds a 40.22% interest in the project. Other Tangguh production sharing contract partners are MI Berau B.V. (16.30%), CNOOC Muturi Ltd. (13.90%), Nippon Oil Exploration (Berau), Ltd. (12.23%), KG Berau Petroleum Ltd (8.56%), Indonesia Natural Gas Resources Muturi Inc. (7.35%) and KG Wiriagar Petroleum Ltd (1.44%).

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