United Arab Emirates operator Mubadala Energy has made a potentially giant gas discovery with its Layaran-1 wildcat on the South Andaman production sharing contract offshore Aceh, Indonesia, which boosts the potential of a hub development.
Discovery Details
Mubadala’s Layaran-1 exploration well encountered an extensive gas column with a thickness of more than 230 metres in the Oligocene sandstone. The well flowed more than 30 million cubic feet per day of excellent quality gas, the operator confirmed.
Exploration Success
The successful well — Mubadala’s first operated deepwater well — was drilled to a total depth of 4208 metres by the drillship Capella from a water depth of 1207 metres.
Commercial Opportunities
Mubadala chief executive Mansoor Mohamed Al Hamed said: “With our strategy to expand our gas portfolio to support the energy transition, this development offers material commercial opportunities and adds momentum to our strategic growth story.
“This is… a huge milestone for Indonesia’s and Southeast Asia’s energy security.”
De-risking Prospective Gas Resources
The positive outcome from the Layaran-1 discovery will de-risk multi-trillion cubic feet of prospective gas resources in the area, according to Mubadala, which added it provides a foundation for future organic growth and additional exploration drilling activities in 2024.
Future Exploration Plans
Upstream earlier reported that Mubadala plans to continue wildcatting offshore Aceh with the Parang Parang-1 exploration well on its South Andaman PSC on the cards for 2024 and its maiden probe on the contiguous Andaman I block pencilled in for the following year.
Upcoming Drilling Activities
The Layaran-1 probe is the first of a four-well exploration campaign targeting the same Oligocene play as Harbour’s successful Timpan-1 well, which was drilled on the Andaman II PSC in 2022. The drillship Capella will now move to spud drill the Harbour-operated Halwa and Gayo wells on the contiguous Andaman II block. Harbour holds a 40% operated interest in the Andaman II PSC where its partners are Mubadala and UK supermajor BP. The drilling unit will then return to South Andaman to drill another well in the latter half of 2024, the location of which will be confirmed in light of Layaran’s success.
Co-venturers and Share Price Movement
Co-venturers in the South Andaman gross split PSC are operator Mubadala with an 80% interest and Premier Oil (Harbour) on 20%. Harbour’s share price was up 4.4% in early trading Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange after the Layaran discovery was confirmed.
Source: upstreamonline.com
