Unocal Records Two New Deepwater Discoveries in Indonesia

Unocal Corp. says that gas has been discovered in both the Gula and Gada prospects in the Ganal Production Sharing Contract (PSC) area offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Together, the gross unrisked resource potential in the structures is estimated to be in the 2-3 Tcf range, but more drilling will be necessary to assess the full resource potential of these prospects.

The Gula discovery is located 35 miles north of the earlier Gendalo discovery. The Gula #1 well was drilled to a depth of 16,182 ft in 6,051 ft of water. The Gula #1 well reached total depth in a gas sand and encountered more than 260 ft of net gas pay.

The Gada discovery is located eight miles north of the Gula #1 well. The Gada #2 well was drilled to a depth of 15,223 ft in 6,224 ft of water. The Gada #2 well encountered 70 ft of net gas pay. Future drilling will test the deeper section in both the Gula and Gada structures and could increase the resource potential.

These discoveries confirm that the well-defined Central Delta Play contains world-class gas resources. Unocal has now drilled four straight discoveries in the Central Delta Play fairway. Several large prospects remain undrilled in the play trend. Unocal has also drilled a successful appraisal well on the Gendalo prospect.

Unocal, through various subsidiaries, is operator of the East Kalimantan, Ganal, Sesulu, Rapak, and Makassar Strait PSCs. The company holds working interests of 100% in East Kalimantan, 80% in Ganal and Sesulu (LASMO plc 20%), 60% in Rapak (Exxon-Mobil 30%; LASMO plc 10%) and 50% in Makassar Strait (ExxonMobil 50%).

Under the terms of the PSCs, Unocal Indonesia Company and its affiliates, as contractors to Pertamina, the Indonesia national oil company, are entitled to varying shares of the oil and gas produced from commercial discoveries.

Edited by Dev George