Kuwait’s Oil Firm to Boost Indonesia’s Natuna Sea Offshore Exploration

The Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) has announced plans to bid for additional oil and gas blocks offshore Indonesia and ramp up hydrocarbon exploration in the Natuna Sea. This was disclosed by the CEO of Kuwait’s state oil firm during an interview with Reuters on Monday.

KUFPEC operates as an international upstream company, focusing on the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas beyond Kuwait’s borders.

Currently, the company, a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), is involved in two key offshore projects in Indonesia: Natuna Sea Block A and the Anambas Exploration Block. It also holds an Ephindo exploration licence, further highlighting its commitment to expanding its presence in the region.

“We are particularly focused on potential blocks in the Natuna Sea region, which aligns with our ongoing efforts to develop the Anambas Block,” KUFPEC’s Indonesian country manager, Sara Al-Baker, told Reuters in an interview.

KUFPEC is now evaluating the Natuna D-Alpha natural gas block. While the block is estimated to contain as much as 230 trillion cubic feet of gas, its carbon dioxide content is high.

“The main challenge is the high CO2,” Al-Baker told Reuters.

The Kuwaiti company will also take part in the upcoming offshore oil and gas licenses, the executive added.

Indonesia plans to cut red tape to encourage oil and gas exploration as it looks to revive its domestic oil and gas industry and boost energy security, the new government and president said in October.

Indonesia, which was a member of OPEC between 1962 and 2009, reactivated its membership in the organization in early 2016, but suspended it again later that same year, when the cartel agreed on joint oil production cuts under the so-called OPEC+ deal with some non-OPEC members, including Russia and Kazakhstan.

Indonesian crude oil production has been falling in recent years, while oil demand has been rising in the world’s fourth most populous country after India, China, and the United States.

Indonesia used to be a net oil exporter but this has changed as natural depletion and insufficient new exploration have combined to push its output of hydrocarbons down.