The Popodi and Papalang Production Sharing Contract (PSC) areas lie in the deepwater portion of the Kutei Basin, offshore East Kalimantan, in water depths ranging from 1,650 to 2,450 metres.
They are located seaward of West Seno, Indonesia's first deep-water producing oilfield which is scheduled to come on-stream in the third quarter of 2003.
The PSC's were originally awarded to Zodan NV and Zudavi NV respectively (operators), with majors Unocal and AGIP farming-in shortly after the blocks were awarded by the Indonesian government in November 2001.
Three exploration wells targeting oil are planned to be drilled during the three year exploration program - two in the Popodi PSC and one in the Papalang PSC. Unocal will be drilling the wells. The first well is expected to be drilled in the Popodi PSC in October 2003.
The work program for both PSC's includes the licensing and acquisition of 2D and 3D seismic data.
"This is frontier acreage in deep-water that adds to Santos' high-impact exploration program. It is high risk, but it is a good strategic fit and with the right joint venture team to do the job," said Santos' managing director, John Ellice-Flint. The Kutei Basin is a prolific hydrocarbon province with approximately four billion barrels of oil and 40tcf of gas discovered to date.
Following the farm-in, interests in the Popodi PSC will be: Unocal Popodi 24%, AGIP Popodi 25%, Zodan (operator) 31%, %, Santos (Popodi) 20%. The Papalang PSC equities are: Unocal Papalang 24%, AGIP Papalang 25%, Zudavi (operator) 31%, Santos (Papalang) 20%.
