Eni boosts its gas arsenal with start-up of another offshore project

Italy’s energy giant Eni has brought online a natural gas field as a subsea tie-back to its floating production unit (FPU) in the Kutei Basin off the coast of Indonesia. 

While disclosing the first gas production from the Merakes East field in the East Sepinggan block, Eni highlights that the project will contribute up to 100 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas, or approximately 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), to the firm’s production capacity. 

Located at a water depth of 1,600 meters, approximately 10 kilometers east of the Merakes field, the Merakes East field has been tied back via a subsea connection to the Italian oil major’s FPU Jangkrik, situated around 50 kilometers away.

The company describes this start-up, said to be the result of the close cooperation between the firm and SKK Migas, as another example of fast-track development since the field was brought on stream around two years after the final investment decision (FID) was made to move forward with its development.

Following the initial processing onboard the FPU, the gas will be transferred via pipe network to supply the internal market and the Bontang liquefaction plant, which supplies liquefied natural gas (LNG) for both the internal market and export.

Eni sees the Merakes East project as an important step in its broader strategy to valorize the considerable gas resources held in Indonesia’s Kutei Basin, where the firm is not only working on the ongoing development of the Maha field but has also secured approval of the plans of development for the Northern Hub and Gendalo-Gendang.

According to the Italian player, the East Merakes production start-up is perceived to be consistent with plans to positively impact the local content and increase the utilization of available capacity at the Bontang LNG plant, while also ensuring additional gas volumes for domestic consumption.

The exploration successes and acquisitions enabled Eni to position itself as the main operator of the Kutei basin and one of the key players in Indonesia’s gas market, where it expects to produce up to 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas and 90,000 bopd of condensate once the North Hub and the Gendalo-Gandang fields come online.

Eni is engaged in talks with Petronas to establish a joint venture holding company to oversee selected upstream assets in Indonesia and Malaysia, which is expected to generate substantial synergies towards becoming a major LNG player in the region, combining approximately 3 billion boe of reserves with an additional 10 billion boe of potential exploration upside.

The Italian energy heavyweight, which announced an adjusted net profit of €1.4 billion, or $1.58 billion, during Q1 2025, is also actively working on projects outside Asia, as confirmed by its plans to drill two more wells at a Mediterranean gas field off the coast of Egypt.

In addition, the Italian giant is working on multiple LNG projects, as illustrated by its recent move to team up with Argentina’s YPF on the evaluation of a phase of a proposed liquefied natural gas project on the South American country’s Atlantic coast.

The firm also recently achieved the 100th LNG cargo from its FLNG in Mozambique and secured the Council of Ministers’ approval for its Coral Norte/North FLNG project.