DILI, 6 january 2022 (TATOLI) – The President of the National Authority of Petroleum and Minerals (ANPM), Florentino Soares Ferreira, informed that gas production from the three wells of the Bayu-Undan field demonstrates an incremental to the previous production from the field.
“The drilling of the first well began in May 2021 and the first gas was delivered in July 2021. While the drilling of the second well started in June, the first gas of the second well was delivered in October 2021. Third well was subsequently drilled and successful in which it is now on ongoing preparation for production. The production is scheduled to be delivered in mid-January 2022. Thus, from the two first production wells; we can produce more than 40.000 barrels oil equivalent (BoE),” Ferreira told TATOLI at his office, at the Ministry of Finance, in Dili, on Thursday.
Ferreira said it’s too early to reveal the revenue produced by the three wells of the Bayu-Undan: “With the rise in oil prices, if the oil company (Santos Ltd) sells out all of the hydrocarbon with good prices then the State will possibly get more revenue. However, if they sell less than what it’s expected then we will reimburse the company’s money as it is defined in the fiscal regime.”
“It is too early for me to reveal to the public about the exact amount of revenue the nation will get from the gas production of these three wells. All in all, I can say that there is a sharp increase in the field production of the hydrocarbon from these wells,” he stressed.
He said the depletion occurs when resources like gas were consumed over the past 16 years, saying therefore production of the Bayu-Undan was in decline before the drilling of the three current wells.
Bayu-Undan was discovered in early 1995, when the Bayu-1 well intersected a 155m gas condensate column. Bayu-Undan field is located 500km offshore Darwin, Australia, in the Timor Sea, and is 250km south of Timor-Leste. The field life is estimated to be 20 years. Commercial production of the field began in April 2004, where in addition to the gas production, the field delivered 115,000bpd of condensates and LPG during the peak period.
“The Bayu-Undan field would be dismantled in 2024 or 2025 if it is no longer producing the gas from the field,” he said.
Bayu Undan field has been the nation’s main source of revenue for more than a decade, paying more than US$20 billion into Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund.
Santos has a 43.4% working interest in Bayu-Undan as an Operator. The remaining interest is held by SK E&S (25%), INPEX (11.4%), Eni (11%), JERA (6.1%), and Tokyo Gas (3.1%).
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
