Santos and its partners have decided to go ahead with the Sampang Sustainability Project (SPP), a project to extend the life of the Sampang area fields, off East Java, Indonesia, to at least 2020.
The project will involve switching the Oyong and Wortel fields to a gas only production system and ceasing uneconomic oil production, says partner Cue Energy Resources.
Operator production forecasts based on implementation of the SSP show an increase of 2P reserves of ~17 Bcf associated with the extended life of the Wortel and Oyong fields.
The current project schedule estimates switching to gas only operations in September 2017, allowing both the floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel, Seagood, and the FPSO Surya Putra Jaya, to be decommissioned in Q4 2017. This should reduce total annual production costs from about US$50 million in 2016 to about $22 million by 2018.
The existing reservoirs for the Oyong and Wortel fields are in structural and structural/ stratigraphic trap closures in the Mundu formation. The joint venture has reviewed other Mundu formation prospects, including the Paus prospect, which is believed to be a low risk prospect and potentially a drilling candidate in 2018.
The joint venture is yet to make a its decision to proceed with this near term exploration potential, but if drilling is approved and is successful, Paus could be tied back through the Oyong facilities and further extend the gas production from the Sampang PSC for many years. Cue will keep the market informed of any developments.