Call for better data to boost Indonesian sector

Key oil company officials say the Indonesian government needs to have better quality and more easily accessible geological data if the nation is to attract more exploration investment, writes Amanda Battersby.

Reforming data management is a must — attractive fiscal terms are not enough and Indonesia must be competitive within a global context — and this was a hot topic of discussion by senior oilmen attending the recent SPE/IATMI Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference.

“Every time we try to get data it’s difficult and the quality is poor,” says BP Indonesia exploration vice president Moektianto Soeryowibowo.

Meanwhile, another Jakarta-based oil company official who has worked extensively overseas said that Indonesia could consider the example of Norway, which has an open data policy.

“Norway has an open data policy — Indonesia’s is currently closed,” he says.

Potential bidders in licensing rounds often have only limited available data on which to base their assessments of hydrocarbon prospectivity.

Meanwhile, an official with Malaysian state oil company Petronas explains that in the company’s [other] role as industry regulator it routinely carries out work on virgin territory before making the acreage available.

“This does not happen in [neighbouring] Indonesia,” he says.

Indonesia has introduced a new gross split model for new contracts — it will not be applied retroactively to any existing assets — that Deputy Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources Arcandra Tahar says will be the same as the existing cost recovery model “if not better”.

Also, there is going to be some flexibility within the gross split model to give contractors a larger slice of the pie when it comes to exploiting fields.

However, decent geological data are needed if players are going to open their wallets in the first place and commit to exploration programmes.

Offering a small ray of light, Oslo-listed seismic contractor EMGS has just received letters of intent for two prefunded multi-client surveys offshore Indonesia. Work on these two contracts is expected to start in December.

http://www.upstreamonline.com/hardcopy/1384831/call-for-better-data-to-boost-indonesian-sector