Indonesia Opens Tenders for 10 Oil and Gas Blocks Starting March 2024

KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) will open a tender for several oil and gas working areas (WK) in March 2024. The plan is to offer 10 WKs throughout this year.

"For the tender of 10 oil and gas WKs in March 2024, we will start sounding first, then in May it will be announced at the IPA event," said the Director General of Oil and Gas of the Ministry of ESDM, Tutuka Ariadji, when met at the Ministry of ESDM building on Monday (12/2).

For now, Tutuka cannot detail the 10 oil and gas WKs. What is clear, his party is still waiting for the results of last year's auction such as the Working Area (WK) Warim alias Akimeugah I and Akimeugah II.

Previously, to determine the 10 oil and gas WKs to be auctioned, the Directorate General of Oil and Gas has collaborated with the SKK Migas exploration team where there are two working areas with quite large potential that have been mapped.

Some of these potential areas are in North Madura and also areas around Andaman," he said.

For the North Madura region itself, the Ministry of ESDM through the Geological Survey Center has conducted research on the North East Java Basin to accelerate the WK offer.

The study results show that the basin there is already mature. Many seismic tracks pass through the area accompanied by drilling wells and many empty blocks.

In the study area, several wells show indications of hydrocarbon content, and in the vicinity, there are oil and gas fields that have been producing such as Camar Field, Jenggolo Field, Payang Field, and Bukit Tua Field.

The Coordinator of the Conventional Oil and Gas WK Development Working Group, Maruf Affandi stated, that internally they have pocketed more than 10 potential oil and gas WKs to be auctioned. However, they are still looking in more detail at the results of the study with SKK Migas.

"The results of the joint study, whether it will be a direct offer later or the remainder from termination. Experts from SKK Migas will recommend," said Tutuka.

Throughout 2023, the Ministry of ESDM offered 10 oil and gas WKs. Meanwhile, as many as 13 oil and gas profit-sharing contracts have been signed with a total Definite Work Commitment (KKP) signed reaching US$ 178.6 million.