Timor Sea oilfield development gets fast-tracked

Perth-based oil and gas exploration player Finder Energy has signed a development alliance agreement and accelerated front-end engineering and design (FEED) project (AFP) agreement with U.S.-headquartered technology player SLB, aimed at expediting the development of two oilfields offshore Timor Leste.

Thanks to the AFP agreement, resources for the acceleration of the FEED stage of the Kuda Tasi and Jahal (KTJ) oilfield project will be mobilized immediately, allowing drilling and subsea portions to be completed within 6 to 9 months, 12 months earlier than envisaged. The two fields form part of the production sharing contract (PSC) 19-11.

The AFP agreement will see pre-FEED and FEED work completed across all technical domains, including reservoir, subsea production systems (SPS), and well engineering. 

Finder’s CEO, Damon Neaves, said: “Finder is pursuing an acceleration strategy to bring forward first oil at Kuda Tasi and Jahal. This alliance with SLB brings enormous resources and development capability to the project not only accelerating FEED but establishing a pathway through to FID, the construction phase and beyond.” 

The acceleration of FEED translates into reaching first oil faster. With this objective in mind, Finder is also focused on completing other time-critical aspects, including the selection of a floating storage production and offloading (FPSO) unit and long leads, as these elements impact the time to first oil. 

The partners foresee an integrated single-source solution beginning with a commitment to undertake FEED, to deliver budgets and a timeline to the level required to reach a final investmend decision (FID). Access to SLB’s global procurement and stocking programs is expected to assist in delivery time reductions.

The collaborative contracting model is expected to reduce forward capital expenditure. The estimated financial commitment net to Finder under the AFP agreement is approximately $0.9 million.

An integrated project team headed by Finder’s COO, Mark Roberson, has been formed, bringing resources across multiple disciplines, including subsurface, well construction, subsea production system engineering, drilling management, and subsea installation. Overseen by a joint steering committee, it will deliver an integrated end-to-end solution.

“Our alliance with SLB brings significant development capability which is expected to deliver a single point solution and materially advance the KTJ Project toward FID and first oil. SLB’s participation in the KTJ Project under a collaborative contracting model follows their detailed evaluation of the technical dataroom,” noted Finder.

Finally, the Australian firm said it is actively de-risking other key elements of the project to realize what it feels is a significant economic potential that this project represents.

Finder Energy holds 76% and is the operator of PSC 19-11, located within the Laminaria High oil province of Timor-Leste. Its partner in the field and holder of the remaining 24% interest is the state-owned Timor Gap. The Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo (ANP) approved a three-year extension of the PSC term, which is now valid until August 29, 2027.

The two fields in the license have been discovered and fully appraised, boasting a combined capacity of 22 million barrels (MMbbl) gross 2C contingent resources, 6 MMbbl attributed to Jahal and 16 MMbbl to Kuda Tasi. According to Finder, the initial development provides a hub for additional near-field development, creating a pipeline of opportunity.

The Australian player initiated the interpretation of reprocessed data for Kuda Tasi and Jahal at the end of last month. This is meant to inform static and dynamic reservoir models for the fields, determine the location of development wells, and confirm independent resource assessment and economics.