The North Kalimantan Provincial Government Encourages Medco To Explore Oil And Gas Fields That Have Not Been Activated

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Provincial Government (Pemprov) of North Kalimantan (Kaltara) encourages Medco E&P as contractor of the Tarakan Onshore Oil and Gas Block to explore unactivated fields. "Some oil and gas fields that are not explored and exploitation must remain encouraged in order to generate local revenue," said the Regional Secretary of Kaltara Suriansyah, in Tanjung Selor, quoted from Antara, Thursday 9 March.There are only seven onshore oil and gas (land) fields managed by Medco E&P in Tarakan City, but only one is producing, namely Mambing Field. The other six oil and gas fields that do not produce are Hakebabo Square, Mengalat, Pamusian Deep, Peninki, Sesanip, and South Pamusian. The Kaltara Provincial Government actually has the potential to collect revenue from the Participating Interest (PI) scheme of 10 percent according to the Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 37 of 2016 concerning the Provision of 10 Percent PI Offering in the Oil and Gas Working Area. Even so, the Kaltara Provincial Government assesses that the results of the PI scheme are not yet economical enough, because the oil and gas fields that produce only one field. The Kaltara Provincial Government and Tarakan City Government will only get Rp1 billion to Rp2 billion per year from the production activities of Lapandam Mam Lumbangan. "If all seven fields are worked on, of course, they will generate the original income of the regions of hundreds of billions of rupiah per year," said Suriansyah.Blok or Working Area (WK) Tarakan Onshore starting contract by Medco E&P on January 13, 2022 and will expire on January 14, 2042 or for 20 years.

Previously, WK Tarakan Onshore was managed by Tesoro Tarakan Petroleum Company in 1982. Then PT Eksita Patranagari 1992, PT Expon Tarakan in 1996, and Medco E&P Tarakan in 2004. Medco E&P production facilities reached 53 wells that had been drilled and 18 of them were active. Also, there is one gas station, two oil stations, and 34.45 kilometers of pipelines. MEDCO E&P produces 325 MMSTB (890 BOPD) oil and 765 3BCF (2.1 MMCFD) gas from Mambingan Field. In 2023, the planned production of 670 BOPD oil and 2.14 MMCFD gas. The area of the Tarakan Onshore WK reaches 178.70 square kilometers.