Indonesia’s natural wealth does not need to be doubted. This time, the government is preparing to tender for the East Natuna Block, the largest gas source in Indonesia, located in the Riau Islands.
This block auction has been stalled for more than 45 years. Therefore, the government hopes that the auction for this block can be carried out shortly, so that the winner can be announced in June 2023.
Director General of Oil and Gas Tutuka Ariadji is concerned that the development of the East Natuna Block gas source has been stalled for 45 years. Even though the jumbo block itself has larger reserves than the Masela Block.
“We will divide it into three because the block is too big. At the top there is oil, and the middle one is D-Alpha, which has a large reserve of 46 TCF larger than Masela but contains high carbon. For this you need to offer Di-Alpha yourself,” said Tutuka quoted Monday (26/12/2022).
He also hopes that world-class big companies with large capital will be interested in developing the East Natuna Block. That way, the East Natuna block can be developed immediately.
“We hope that the preparations can be completed and we are targeting to be able to announce it in June next year. We are preparing an auction before June. It is hoped that in June the winner will be announced,” he said.
The East Natuna Block will later be divided into 3 working areas, where D-Alpha is the largest oil and gas block. The gas reserves in East Natuna are the largest in Indonesia, reaching 4 times that of the Masela Block. However, the CO2 content is more than 70%, making this block difficult to manage.
“The CO2 is very high, more than 70%. It is not easy to manage and for that, we need to offer D-Alpha separately to the international community and it is hoped that it will reach large multinational companies that have strong capital, high competence, and are willing to take risks, “said the Director General of Oil and Gas.
The East Natuna Block has enormous potential, reaching 222 trillion cubic feet (TCF). However, the CO2 content in the block reaches more than 70%, so only around 46 TCF can be exploited.
The government hopes that the application of CCS & CCUS technology can be the answer for the treatment of large CO2 content in oil and gas fields in Indonesia.
“We already have carbon capture technology, Natuna gas is 70% CO2, can we offer it later so that the gas can be injected,” said ESDM Minister Arifin Tasrif in November 2022 in Jakarta.
