Petronas continuing oil & gas ops at Java Sea field for 20 more years

PC Ketapang II Ltd. (PCK2L), a subsidiary of Malaysia’s energy giant Petronas, has tucked a 20-year extension under its belt for a production sharing contract (PSC) related to an oil and gas field in the Java Sea.

According to Petronas, the 20-year extension of the PSC for the Ketapang working area in the Java Sea was officially granted by the government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources at the end of December 2023 with the same composition of participating interests. This PSC was slated to expire in 2028.

Datuk Adif Zulkifli, Petronas’ Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream, commented: “We are grateful to the government of Indonesia for the PSC extension, which will allow Petronas to continue leveraging our strong portfolio in Indonesia, through our key strategic projects that we have planned for the Ketapang working area.”

The Ketapang PSC lies in the East Java Sea, 35 kilometers north of Madura Island and 100 kilometers from the major industrial city of Surabaya. The PSC was signed in 1998 and contains the Bukit Tua oil and gas field, which was developed via one wellhead platform, a leased FPSO, and a 100-kilometer subsea gas pipeline. A gas sales agreement was signed in 2012 between Petronas Carigali and Petrogas Jatim Utama for supply from Bukit Tua.

In April 2022, the company achieved its first hydrocarbon production from the Bukit Tua Phase-2B’s BTJTB-T2 well located within the Ketapang Block, offshore East Java, Indonesia. This follows Bukit Tua Phase 1, Phase 2A, and Phase 3. Petronas is the operator of the Ketapang Block and holds 80% participating interest through its two subsidiaries, PC Ketapang II and Petronas Carigali (Ketapang) Ltd, while the remaining 20% is held by PT Saka Ketapang Perdana.  

“Since its first oil production in 2015, PCK2L has emerged as one of the key upstream players in East Java, delivering resources to effectively meet the region’s energy demand, and we will continue to foster robust collaborations with the government of Indonesia and our partners to contribute towards reaching the national production targets,” added Zulkifli.

Currently, Petronas is the operator for the Ketapang, North Madura II, and North Ketapang PSC, located offshore East Java, and is a joint venture partner in seven PSCs located both onshore and offshore Sumatra, Natuna Sea, East Java, as well as East Indonesia.

The Malaysian player is among the companies that recently inked PSCs with Staatsolie for blocks offshore Suriname. During 2023, Petronas, together with its petroleum agreement contractors, recorded 19 exploration discoveries and two exploration-appraisal successes in Malaysia.