TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi Corp and other Japanese firms said on Monday an Indonesian regulator has approved their plan to develop the new Ubadari gas field and raise output at the existing Vorwata gas field using carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).
SKK Migas — Indonesia’s upstream oil and gas regulator — has approved the plan of development (POD) for Ubadari field and Vorwata CCUS at BP’s Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua Barat, Indonesia, the companies said in a statement.
The new development has an estimated potential additional recovery of 1.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in total from new Ubadari field and enhanced Vorwata field, they said.
The approval comes at a time when there is growing pressure on entities around the world for cutting carbon dioxide emissions to combat global climate-change challenges.
The Tangguh LNG Project currently produces 1.4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of gas through two LNG trains and will reach 2.1 Bcf per day once Train 3 — currently under construction — is online.
The Tangguh project is operated by BP, which owns 40.2% stake, on behalf of the other production sharing contract partners, including China’s CNOOC, Japan’s Mitsubishi, Inpex Corp and state-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC).
They plan to inject about 25 million tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) back into the Vorwata reservoir to eliminate carbon venting and provide incremental gas production through enhanced gas recovery (EGR).
The CO2 injection will remove up to 90% of the reservoir-associated CO2, representing nearly half of the Tangguh LNG emission, they said.
The companies plan to conduct the front-end engineering and design (FEED) for Ubadari field development and Vorwata CCUS in mid-2022, with an aim to start up the project in 2026 subsequent to a final investment decision.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi)
