Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Auction 8 Potential Oil and Gas Blocks from Papua to South Sumatra

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is accelerating efforts to explore upstream oil and gas (Migas) to maintain national energy security by conducting an auction of 8 oil and gas work areas.

Director General of Oil and Gas of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Laode Sulaeman said that this time the work area bid was supported by the improvement of policies aimed at improving the economics of the project for investors.

"To make this opportunity attractive, we have refined the contractual and fiscal provisions," said Laode, Monday, December 22.

Laode explained that the oil and gas revenue-sharing contract now offers greater flexibility with a split of up to 50 percent for the Contractor's share based on the risk profile, 100 percent Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) for the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO), and without restrictions on cost recovery.

"We also allow the selection of a cost recovery scheme or a gross split scheme," explained Laode.

In the 2025 Phase III Auction, the government offers three WK through the Direct Offer mechanism, namely the Tapah WK located in the mainland of South Sumatra and Jambudengan estimated resources of 439.5 Million Stock Tank Barrels (MMSTB) of oil and 23 Billion Standard Cubic Feet (BSCF) or billion cubic feet of standard gas. Then the Nawasena WK which is located on the mainland and off the coast of East Java with estimated resources reaching 1.313 BCF of gas.

Third, the Mabelo WK which is located in the mainland and the South East Sulawesi coast which has an estimated 282 MMSTB of oil.

In addition, five other WK are offered through the Regular Auction mechanism. The WK includes Arwana III WK in the Sea of Natuna, then the Tuah Tanah WK in the North Sumatra & Riau Mainland with an estimated 52.51 Millions of Barrels of Oil or Millions of Barrels of Oil, and the Rangkas WK in the Banten & West Java Mainland with an estimated 874 MMSTB oil or 789 BCF gas.

Meanwhile, the other two blocks are in frontier areas with giant potential, namely WK Akimeugah I and Akimeugah II in the South Papua Mainland and Papua Mountains, which each have resource estimates of around 15 Billion Barrel Oil Equivalent (BBOE).

The government opens access to the Auction Document starting December 22, 2025. For Direct Bidding, document access is open until February 3, 2026 with a deadline for the submission of the Participation Document on February 5, 2026.

Meanwhile, for the Regular Auction, document access is available until April 17, 2026 and the deadline for submitting documents is April 21, 2026. All registration and data access processes are carried out online through the official ESDM website.