Project Profile
Value: US$10-16 billion (estimate)
Location: Arafura Sea, Indonesia
Production: 9.5 million mt/year LNG and 13,000 bpd of condensate
Reserves: 12.7 tcf (359.66 bcm)
Water Depth: 984ft-3,281ft
Area: 3,221 square km
The Abadi gas field is situated in the 3,221km² Masela block in the Arafura Sea, Indonesia. The field lies in water depths ranging 984ft-3,281ft.
Inpex Masela operates the field. Inpex earlier owned a 90% interest in the field but in July 2011 transferred 30% to Shell. Abadi is a large-scale project and Inpex invited Shell Upstream Overseas Services as a strategic partner to use its expertise in floating LNG technology. EMP Energi Indonesia sold its 10% in the project in June 2013, leaving Inpex with 65% and Shell with 35%.
A product sharing agreement for the field was signed in November 1998, covering 30 years. The plan of development for the field was submitted in September 2008 to BPMigas, the Indonesian Government authority responsible for oil and gas upstream business, and approved in December 2010.
First production is expected in 2018 with an initial output of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG a year and 13,000 barrels per day of condensate.
Discovery:
A 2D seismic survey was carried out in the block using marine vessel Geco Rho between February and March 1999. The field was discovered by the Abadi-1 exploration well, which was drilled between October and December 2000. The Abadi field was discovered by the Abadi-1 exploration well, which was drilled between October and December 2000 by the Energy Searcher rig.
The confirmed presence of gas and condensate was the first discovery of crude oil and natural gas in the Arafura Sea. Between July and September 2001, a 3D seismic survey was carried out using the PGS Ramform Challenger marine vessel.
In 2002, two appraisal wells, Abadi-2 and Abadi-3, were drilled to examine the extent of reserves of the field. Abadi-2 was drilled by the Energy Searcher rig and Abadi-3 was drilled by the Ocean General rig. Four more wells drilled between May 2007 and June 2008 confirmed the presence of significant gas reserves.
The field has proven gas reserves of 12.7 tcf (359.66 bcm) that could grow to 40 tcf (1.13 tcm).
Field development:
The field will be developed in phases using a subsea production system and a floating LNG facility. About 18 directional production wells are expected to be drilled from five subsea drilling centres. Initial development will be carried out in the northern part of the field, where most of the reserves are concentrated. The produced natural gas will be processed, liquefied and stored for offloading in the floating LNG facility that will have annual production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. The pre-FEED work for the floating LNG facility was carried out between September 2007 and November 2008. The FEED is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2012.
Indonesia is set to decide on the development of the Abadi gas field in the Masela block by November 2016. The discussions on the project capacity with Inpex and Shell are in progress. Inpex and Shell have proposed to increase the output from the field by four times above the initial plan. The proposed onshore facility would have a production capacity between 7.5 mtpa and 9.5 mtpa. The initial plan of development was based on developing the gas field in Arafura Sea in stages and targeted the deployment of an FLNG plant with an annual processing capacity of 2.5 mtpa as the first stage of development.
Floating LNG facility:
The floating LNG facility will feature the integration of proven technologies such as FPSO, baseload onshore LNG plants and LNG carriers. It will include an LNG loading plant, an LNG storage tank and a loading facility similar to that available on a conventional FPSO. The floating LNG concept was chosen for the field because it reduces the environmental impact of constructing an onshore facility in terms of the land, harbour and infrastructure facilities required. INPEX submit revised plan of development in 2015. The Revised POD envisions the adoption of a Floating LNG (FLNG) plant with an annual LNG processing capacity of 7.5 million tons. The initial plan of development (POD-1) was based on developing the Abadi gas field in stages and targeted the deployment of an FLNG plant with an annual LNG processing capacity of 2.5 million tons as the first stage of development. POD-1 was approved by the Indonesian government in 2010. Between November 2012 and November 2014, INPEX conducted Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) works for both SURF (Subsea, Umbilical, Riser and Flowline) and the FLNG plant based on POD-1.
Operators:
Inpex Masela: Operator with 65% interest
Shell: 35% interest
Contractors:
Wood Group - Commissioned in November 2012 to conduct front end engineering and design (FEED) of subsea production facilities for the development of the FLNG project. The scope of the FEED contract includes detailed engineering for subsea, umbilical, riser and flowline (SURF) works.