The Bawean 1 PSC covers an area of 9,559 km2 and its addition to Santos’ portfolio more than doubles the area of Santos’ Indonesian exploration acreage.

As part of the deal, Santos will partly fund two wells before July with the first well, Titan-1, targeting a gas prospect in April.

“The addition of the Bawean PSC interests is another significant step in building our Indonesian business and, importantly, adds to the 'high-impact' end of our exploration portfolio,” Santos Managing Director, John Ellice-Flint, said.

“3D seismic data was acquired over part of the PSC during 2002 so any discoveries could be appraised and developed quickly to help meet the escalating demand for gas in East Java,” Ellice-Flint said.