Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) in collaboration with Production Sharing Contract (PSC) Prima Energy Northwest Natuna Pte. Ltd. (PENN) have concluded discussions on the revision of the Plan of Development (PoD) I for the Ande-Ande Lumut (AAL) Oil Field. The revised PoD has been approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) on March 5, 2024. The AAL Oil Field, characterized by heavy oil, is located in the West Natuna Sea, 20 km from the Malaysian border and approximately 260 km from the nearest land (Matak, Anambas).

Deputy for Exploration, Development, and Management of Work Areas at SKK Migas, Benny Lubiantara, stated, “The development of the AAL Oil Field is quite challenging due to its remote location and proximity to border areas. The oil nature in the reservoir is heavy, and there is a tendency for sand problems in the layers, requiring special handling and thus relatively high operational costs.”

The AAL Oil Field is one of the hopes for increasing national oil production, considering the continuously rising oil demand. It will also be a backbone in achieving the target of 1 million barrels of oil production.

Efforts to mitigate risks related to these issues are outlined in this PoD revision, where the project will be implemented in 2 (two) phases. The production facility scenarios involve the use of a Central Production Platform (CPP) and Floating, Storage, and Offloading (FSO). This concept represents a change from the previous concept which used Well Head Platform (WHP) and Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO). The initial stage of AAL development will involve the installation of platform jackets and drilling of 7 (seven) horizontal production wells to produce oil from both K and G sand layers.

Meanwhile, CEO of Prima Energy Northwest Natuna, Pieters Utomo, emphasized that PENN will continue to commit to the development of the AAL Oil Field until reaching production by the end of 2026 with a production target of 20,000 bopd. 

"Challenges from the AAL Oil Field include unconsolidated sand reservoirs and heavy oil, necessitating long horizontal well drilling and specialized lower completion wells to limit water and sand production. We believe that with the use of proven new technologies from other heavy oil fields, AAL Field will succeed.

"We appreciate the Ministry of ESDM and SKK Migas for their collaboration leading to the approval of the revision to the AAL Oil Field PoD. We will continue our cooperation to ensure the smooth progress of this project as planned,” he added. PENN will also conduct further studies on exploration activities for existing prospects to increase reserves and resources in the Northwest Natuna Work Area.

KeyFacts Energy: Prima Energi Indonesia country profile