Another offshore gas discovery pops up in Southeast Asia

Abu Dhabi-headquartered energy company Mubadala Energy has made a new gas discovery offshore North Sumatra, Indonesia. The drilling activities are believed to have been undertaken with one of Seadrill’s drillships.

The news about the new gas discovery off the coast of Indonesia came from Harbour Energy, which explained that Mubadala Energy, as the operator of the South Andaman license, made a significant discovery at the Tangkulo-1 exploration well offshore North Sumatra, Indonesia. Harbour holds a 20% interest in this license.

The new gas discovery follows another one at the Layaran-1 well on South Andaman in December 2023. Based on the information made available by Mubadala Energy at the time, the well was drilled with Seadrill’s West Capella drillship.

According to Harbour Energy, the rig will now move to appraise the Layaran discovery, marking the final well of this exploration and appraisal campaign. Seadrill’s most recent fleet status report underlines that a one-well contract will enable the West Capella drillship to move to South Korea after completing its assignment in Indonesia.

While confirming the hydrocarbon discovery, Mubadala outlined that Tangkulo-1, which was drilled to a depth of 3,400 meters in 1,200 meters of water depth, encountered an 80-meter gas column in a good quality Oligocene sandstone reservoir confirmed through an extensive data gathering campaign that included obtaining a full core of 72 meters, wireline logging, sidewall core, pressure, and fluid sampling.

Furthermore, the operator explained that the well flowed 47 mmscf/d of gas quality and 1,300 barrels of condensate, utilizing a new drill stem test (DST) design. With the estimated well capacity being 80-100 mmscf/d and over 2,000 barrels of condensate, Mubadala sees Tangkulo-1 as an important pillar in the cluster’s development story.

Since the discovery unlocks further potential in the southern part of the block and indicates an additional multi-TCF of prospective gas resources in nearby structures, this find, together with Layaran-1, is perceived to add material contingent volume and provide a platform for the firm’s continued organic growth in the region through additional exploration and appraisal activities.

Mansoor Mohammed Al Hamed, CEO of Mubadala Energy, commented: “When added to our recent success at Layaran-1, this game-changing discovery promises to transform Indonesia’s and Southeast Asia’s energy landscape and demonstrates that South Andaman is one of the world’s most exciting energy plays.

“By working with partners and harnessing our world class technical capabilities, I am confident we can realize the full potential of this block, in line with our commitment to support the government’s ambitious development timeframes. This news also strengthens our ability to play a proactive role in the energy transition through our gas biased strategy.”