Indonesia opens its first 2023 oil and gas bid round

JAKARTA, April 11, 2023 – Indonesia has opened the first phase of its 2023 oil and gas bid rounds with three plays covering 17,800 square kilometres on offer, Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced on Monday.

The first and largest block on offer is the Akia concession, which covers an area of 8,390 square kilometres off the coast of North Kalimantan. The play is estimated to hold around 2 billion barrels of oil and 255 bcm (9 tcf) of gas.

The minimum commitment of the Akia offer involves geological and geophysical studies and 750 square kilometres of 3D seismic acquisition and processing.

The second working area on offer is the Beluga block, which covers an area of 8,470 square kilometres and is located offshore West Natuna. The play has estimated resources of 360 million barrels of oil and 1.42 bcm (50 bcf) of gas.

The last block on offer is the onshore Bengara block that covers an area of 922 square kilometres in North Kalimantan and is estimated to hold 90 million boe of oil and gas.

Minimum commitment for the Beluga and Bengara plays involves geological and geophysical studies and drilling of one well on each concession.

Bid documentation will be available until May 8, 2023, and the deadline for submission of participation is May 9, 2023.

The PSCs will utilise a cost recovery scheme covering exploration of conventional and non-conventional oil and gas with a fixed sharing split between companies and the government.

Companies will have no obligation to return the part of the working area for the first three years.

Additionally, the government is offering tax facilities and incentives if there are economic constraints.

Oil and gas research entity Rystad Energy recently predicted a rise in upstream M&As in Southeast Asia in the next two years based on more than USD 5 million in assets on offer.