At 5100 meters deep beneath the Indonesian sea, Italian energy giant Eni once again hit black gold. The Geliga-1 exploration well located in the Ganal block of the Kutai Basin has brought good news, with preliminary estimates indicating that this discovery contains approximately 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of condensate oil. This is not only another major victory in the recent exploration of the basin, but also has the potential to reshape the natural gas supply pattern in Southeast Asia, paving the way for Eni's expansion in Southeast Asia.

Deepwater drilling unlocks trillion level resources

This exploration well, located at a depth of about 2000 meters, encountered a huge natural gas column with excellent reservoir characteristics in the Eocene to Miocene strata. As the latest achievement in the recent exploration of the Kutai Basin, Geliga-1's success follows closely after the discovery of Geng North in 2023 and the expected announcement of Konta-1 by the end of 2025. This series of achievements gradually became clear like a puzzle, confirming the unfathomable resource potential of the basin. Currently, Eni is planning to conduct drill pipe testing to accurately evaluate the commercial production capacity of this mega structure.

Collaborative development refers to quick production and efficiency

The newly discovered strategic value lies not only in its reserves, but also in its unique geographical location. Geliga-1 is located adjacent to the existing North Hub development project and the Bontang LNG plant, which means that Eni does not need to build infrastructure from scratch to achieve rapid production using floating production storage and unloading facilities. Even more imaginative is that the discovery is adjacent to the Gula gas field, which has 2 trillion cubic feet of resources. The merger of the two is sufficient to support a daily production capacity of 1 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas and 80000 barrels of condensate oil, and is expected to facilitate the landing of the third production center in the basin. Keywords: Southeast Asian news, natural gas exploration

In terms of equity structure, Eni holds 82% of the equity in the Ganal block as the operator, while Sinopec holds the remaining 18%. This discovery will be incorporated into the Searah joint venture between Eni and Petronas to strengthen its position in Southeast Asia.Editor/Cheng Liting