The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) said that discussions on Chevron's divestment in the deep sea oil and gas (Migas) project or Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD) phase II have recently become smoother. Italian oil and gas company ENI is reportedly getting stronger to replace Chevron's position in the deep sea project. ESDM Minister Arifin Tasrif said his ministry had pocketed a prospective cooperation contract contractor (KKKS) to replace Chevron. However, Arifin was reluctant to provide further information regarding the potential KKKS replacement for the oil and gas company from the United States. "It's fixed, the final [name of KKKS] doesn't need to be mentioned," said Arifin when met at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Wednesday (21/9/2022). He asked the public to wait for the official announcement that the energy and mineral resources authority will make later this year. According to him, the KKKS that will replace Chevron already have facilities adjacent to IDD's current working area.
Previously, SKK Migas reported that Chevron was in intense discussion with the Italian oil and gas company ENI, which has production facilities close to the second phase of the IDD project. The negotiations between the two big-name oil and gas companies are also said to be converging on a meeting point regarding the transfer of project management which had stalled since 2019. Plt. Head of the Program and Communications Division of SKK Migas Mohammad Kemal said the discussion on Chevron's divestment with prospective operators is expected to be completed by the end of this year. "It's getting more positive, hopefully by the end of this year it will be finished," said Kemal in a written message, Friday (26/8/2022). As is known, Chevron has applied for permission to open data to seek new investors since July 2019 and re-submitted in February 2020. With an estimated investment cost of USD 6.98 billion, the development of the IDD Project is carried out in two stages of work, namely the development of the Bangka Field with 2 wells connected to the West Seno floating facility (FPU) in phase I, as well as the development of Gendalo Gehem (G-G) in phase II, namely the development of the Gehem, Gandang, Gendalo and Maha Fields with 26 wells into 2 new FPU units. So far, Chevron has revised the PoD of the IDD project due to an increase in investment value from USD 6.9 billion in 2007 to USD 12 billion in 2014. In the last proposal submitted at the end of 2015, the investment value was USD 9 billion assuming investment credit is above 100%.
