Mubadala Petroleum has started gas production from the Ruby gasfield in Indonesia.
The company yesterday said that production had begun at the field in the Sebuku production-sharing contract in the Makassar Strait between the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and that a stable flow of gas had been established through the export pipeline.
The gas will be supplied to the local fertilizer manufacturer Pupuk Kalimantan Timur to support Indonesia’s national food security programme.
“The project represents the single largest energy investment in Indonesia by a UAE company,” said Suhail Al Mazrouei, the chairman of Mubadala Petroleum.
The project “is a significant demonstration of the company’s capabilities”, he added.
Mubadala expects to extract about 250 billion cubic feet of gas over its lifespan for sale to the domestic market.
The development of the Ruby gasfield, which was officially sanctioned by the Indonesian government in June 2011, is a joint venture between Mubadala Petroleum, which owns a 70 per cent stake via its subsidiary PearlOil Sebuku, Total E&P Sebuku and Inpex South Makassar.
The three companies have invested about US$500 million in the project, Mubadala said.
Installation of the offshore platform facilities was completed in June.
The 312 kilometre-long subsea pipeline that connects the Ruby platform to the dedicated terminal for processing at the Senipah onshore gas plant, operated by Total E&P, was installed at the end of last year.
The Sebuku block is one of three operated by Mubadala in the South East Asian country.
The latest edition to its stable is the West Sebeuku block, adjacent to the Ruby field in the Sebeku block, following an agreement with Indonesia in March. The company also operates the Kerapu production-sharing contract in the Natuna Sea.
Indonesia has 2.9 trillion cubic metres of proven gas reserves, the 14th highest in the world, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
The country’s liquefied natural gas exports fell to 25 billion cubic metres in 2012 from 29.3 billion the previous year, as the country increases its gas consumption to meet domestic energy demands.
jeverington@thenational.ae
