Alan Petzet
OGJ Chief Editor-Exploration
HOUSTON, Apr. 26 -- Subsidiaries of ExxonMobil Corp. made an oil discovery this month on the Cepu block on Java, Indonesia, where the company discovered giant Banyu Urip oil field in 2001.
ExxonMobil didn’t give details of the latest find, Kedung Keris-1, other than to say it is 9 miles east of Banyu Urip field.
Cepu block, 150 km west of Surabaya, covers 919 sq km compared with 1,670 sq km when acquired in 2000. ExxonMobil had announced the Sukowati discovery east of Banyu Urip, but Sukowati has been excluded from the block and is now operated by JOB Pertamina.
Mobil Cepu Ltd. is operator of Cepu. Mobil Cepu Ltd. and Ampolex (Cepu) Pte. Ltd., both ExxonMobil subsidiaries, hold 45% interest in the block. Pertamina EP Cepu has 45%, and the Cepu Block Cooperation Body (BKS) has 10%.
Banyu Urip produces oil from Middle Miocene carbonates and sandstones. The discovery well cut nearly 1,000 ft of gross oil pay and more than 300 ft of gross gas pay and flowed at nearly 4,500 b/d of oil. Sukowati flowed at rates rivaling those at Banyu Urip.
Banyu Urip began producing in 2009 and may reach peak production of 165,000 b/d of oil in 2013 (OGJ, July 19, 2010, p. 44).
Banyu Urip succeeded Pertamina’s nearby Kawengan field as the largest field in the East Java basin. Estimated ultimate recovery from Banyu Urip is 450 million bbl.
ExxonMobil also said it made a gas discovery on the Cepu block in 2010. In early 2010 the company signed a memorandum of understanding to supply gas from the block to Indonesian gas and power utilities (OGJ Online, Feb. 15, 2010). That gas was to be supplied from Jambaran field with reserves estimated at 1.3 tcf.
OGJ estimated Indonesia’s January production at 905,000 b/d of oil and 234 bcf/month of gas (OGJ, Apr. 11, 2011, p. 29).
Contact Alan Petzet at [email protected].
US Department of the Interior.
File photo from PDVSA..
