When the first ray of sunlight in the morning penetrates the thin mist along the coast of Borneo and shines on the drilling platforms in the waters of Indonesia and Malaysia, a new energy giant has quietly awakened. At this moment, it not only marks the landing of cooperation between two international energy giants, but also heralds the reshaping of the energy landscape in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia's new energy flagship sets sail

Searah is an independent joint venture formed by Eni and Petronas of Italy, which hold 50% of the shares equally. The company has become the first independent comprehensive energy company in Southeast Asia by integrating the core businesses of both parties in Indonesia and Malaysia, and currently controls 19 natural gas production and development assets.

The landing speed of this joint venture is extremely fast, only 7 months have passed since Eni and Petronas officially signed the investment agreement on November 3, 2025, and only 16 months have passed since both parties announced the signing of the memorandum of understanding in February 2025. Searah combines complementary business maps, technological capabilities, and regional expertise to create long-term value and achieve operational excellence for Indonesia and Malaysia. Speaking about this collaboration, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said, "Searah embodies our effective satellite business strategy, which aims to build a focused, high-quality business that integrates scale, efficiency, and growth, driven by our outstanding performance in exploration and project execution, as well as our continued focus on technology and innovation. ”

As a strong emerging entity in Southeast Asia, Searah is not only the first but also the largest company of its kind in the region. It gathers the profound accumulation of Eni and Petronas, committed to supporting the development of energy resources in Indonesia and Malaysia, and firmly fulfilling environmental protection commitments to promote local economic prosperity.

Billions of capital leveraged billions of barrels of reserves

At present, Searah has successfully passed the approval of all relevant regulatory agencies, government departments, and partners in Malaysia and Indonesia, meeting all the prerequisites for delivery. The company currently holds 14 natural gas production and development projects in Indonesia and 5 projects in Malaysia. The company's initial daily production is expected to exceed 300000 boe and has set a goal of achieving sustainable production of over 500000 barrels of oil equivalent per day within the next three years.

Petronas President and Group CEO, Tunku Mohammad Tevfik, stated that the establishment of the Searah project is in line with Petronas' strategy of placing greater emphasis on resource development, deploying capital more flexibly, and creating sustained value in the natural gas value chain. ”He added, 'Searah will fully unleash the complementary asset portfolio and operational capabilities of both companies, aiming to integrate their operational depth, financial resilience, and growth potential to meet the region's ever-increasing energy demand in a reliable and responsible manner, while contributing to the long-term energy supply security of Indonesia and Malaysia.'. ”

In terms of financing, Searah has successfully secured a revolving credit line of $6 billion, demonstrating strong confidence in its growth prospects in the financial market. The company plans to invest over $20 billion in the next five years to develop resources with proven reserves exceeding 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent and further unleash exploration potential of billions of barrels of oil equivalent.

Deepwater breakthrough and capacity realization

With the official establishment of Searah, all employees of Eni Indonesia and Petronas Indonesia have transferred to the new company as a whole, and Searah Malaysia has been specifically established to manage assets within Malaysia. The launch of this joint venture coincides with the final investment decisions made by the Gendalo and Gandang gas fields, as well as the Geng North and Gehem gas fields. It is reported that the initial natural gas geological reserves of the above-mentioned project are close to 10 trillion cubic feet, and the associated gas reserves are about 550 million barrels. The project is expected to start production in 2028 and reach a stable production peak of 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 90000 barrels of condensate per day in 2029.

In addition, Eni Group has recently made a significant discovery in the Ganal block of the Kutai Basin, namely the giant Geliga-1 natural gas field. Preliminary estimates suggest that its initial natural gas reserves are approximately 5 trillion cubic feet, with associated gas reserves of around 300 million barrels. The drilling results show that the reservoir quality of the well is excellent, with the potential to produce approximately 200 million standard cubic feet of natural gas and 10000 barrels of condensate oil per day. Keywords: Southeast Asia, energy transition, oil

The establishment of Searah is aimed at supporting the necessary capital and resource allocation to quickly achieve the short-term equity production target of 500000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, while also laying a solid foundation for advancing the subsequent development opportunities brought about by Geliga's successful exploration.Editor/Gong Ziwei