Singapore-headquartered independent upstream firm RH Petrogas (RHP) has discovered oil and gas at the Northwest Klagagi-1 (NWK-1) well in the Kepala Burung production sharing contract (PSC) area in southwest Papua, Indonesia, the firm said on 1 September.
The well was drilled by its 82.65pc-owned subsidiary, Petrogas (Basin). Tests revealed a flow of 1.6mn-2.7mn ft³/d of gas and 40-109 b/d of oil in the lower interval of the Upper Kais development, and 4.2mn ft³/d of gas flow and 192 b/d of condensate in the upper gas-bearing interval of the zone.
The results demonstrate strong gas-condensate deliverability and an unexpected oil opportunity in the Upper Kais formation, RHP said. The firm will carry out additional reservoir evaluation to decide an appropriate development strategy for the Northwest Klagagi field, it added.
Testing in the Lower Kais zone recovered only formation water. The deeper exploration zone of the NWK-1 well has since been plugged and abandoned.
The firm had been targeting development of potential gas and condensate resources in the Upper Kais formation, and evaluating deeper exploration potential in the Lower Kais zone as well as the Oligocene-aged Sirga formation and underlying basement rocks.
RHP operates the Kepala Burung PSC through Petrogas (Basin) and holds a 70pc working interest in the block. Indonesian state-owned refiner Pertamina holds the remaining 30pc. The Kepala Burung PSC currently produces from 18 active oil and gas fields, according to RHP's website. Drilling activity in the block began in 1972 and led to oil and gas discoveries in the Kais formation, and cumulative production from the block has exceeded 360mn bl of oil and 270bn ft³ of gas. The Walio field is the largest contributor, accounting for more than 50pc of the block's oil production.
The Kasim Marine Terminal (KMT), located within the contract area, treats and stores crude oil before it is lifted by the PSC partners via pipeline delivery to the adjacent refinery owned by Pertamina or loading onto tankers for domestic and export markets. Crude from various blocks is co-mingled in KMT and sold as Walio Mix crude blend.
The gas produced at the Kepala Burung block is used for internal power generation and also sold to a local government entity for supply to Sorong city, the largest city in Southwest Papua.
The Asean-focused RHP operates upstream activities covering exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources. The firm operates two producing upstream assets in Indonesia — the Kepala Burung PSC and the Salawati PSC in the Salawati Basin — under PSCs with Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas.
Southeast Asian national oil companies look set to continue investing in exploration efforts in their search for new fossil fuel sources to meet growing energy demand. Pertamina discovered oil at a new well in south Sumatra earlier this year, while Italy's Eni discovered 600bn ft³ of gas at the Konta-1 exploration well in the Kutei basin, offshore east Kalimantan, in late 2025.
