'Major' Indonesian natural gas find announced

Jakarta: Italian energy giant Eni has announced a “major” discovery of natural gas off Indonesia’s coast, which the government said would triple the European company’s production in the country by 2028.

The Southeast Asian archipelago already produces more gas than it uses, with rising demand for the commodity widely used for cooking, heating and electricity generation.

In a statement late Monday, Eni said preliminary estimates indicated the site some 70 kilometres (43 miles) off the coast of East Kalimantan province held about 5.0 trillion cubic feet of gas and 300 million barrels of condensate, a liquid hydrocarbon.

The new find, it added, “unlocks significant new volumes for domestic and international markets”.

The government said the find could boost Eni’s peak production to 2,000 million standard cubic feet per day by 2028 and to 3,000 MMSCFD two years later.

It is between 600 and 700 MMSCFD today.

“This is a giant discovery. In addition to gas, by 2028 we will also be producing roughly 90,000 barrels of condensate. And in 2029–2030 that could increase further to 150,000 barrels,” according to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia.

Higher condensate production will likely reduce oil imports, a government statement quoted him as saying.

Like many nations, Indonesia has come under pressure from soaring global energy prices since the Middle East war broke out.

Last week, President Prabowo Subianto met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, where Jakarta said he made a deal on oil procurement, the details of which are being finalised.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahd Nabyl Achmad Mulachela told AFP after the Moscow visit “there is no specific number that we have, but this is going to be long term for energy security”.

Prabowo then went on to France for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, where the men agreed on cooperation in “energy transition and the development of new and renewable energy”, according to Jakarta.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where fuel is heavily subsidised, is an oil producer but nevertheless a net importer.

Last month, Prabowo’s government announced fuel rationing and mandated civil servants work from home every Friday to conserve energy stocks.

It has vowed not to increase the price of fuel this year, even though the subsidy budget was calculated on an oil price of $70 per barrel. Crude is not sitting at around $100 owing to the war.

Last week, the government increased the price of some non-subsidised fuel and gas.

Bahlil said in March that about 30 percent of Indonesia’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports came from the Middle East, and the government would seek alternative suppliers.

According to the latest International Energy Agency numbers for Indonesia, natural gas made up a 15.6 percent share of the country’s energy supply and 12.9 percent of electricity generation in 2023.

The latest Eni find, Bahlil said Monday, “proves Indonesia still has significant opportunities to optimise its oil and gas potential as a pillar of national energy security and efforts to achieve energy self-sufficiency”.