SK Earthon will acquire equity in the promising North Ketapang block in Indonesia and begin resource exploration. It plans to start with crude oil exploration.
SK Earthon, the energy resource development subsidiary of SK Innovation, said on the 24th that it acquired a 34% equity stake in the North Ketapang exploration block in Indonesia from Petronas North Ketapang. It did not disclose the contract amount.
Going forward, SK Earthon will jointly conduct block resource exploration with Petronas North Ketapang Co., which holds 51% equity in the block, and Pertamina North Ketapang Ltd., which holds 15% equity. If economically viable crude oil is discovered during exploration, it plans to proceed to development and then production. It is a long-term project that will take at least 20 years until final production.
Located offshore near the northeastern part of Java, the North Ketapang block is regarded as a promising block among Indonesia's resource development blocks in Southeast Asia, a major oil-producing region. The number of blocks in Indonesia in which SK Earthon holds equity is three, including the North Ketapang block. To reduce development risk, it formed a consortium to bid and secured a final 34% equity stake.
An SK Earthon official said, "Securing equity in this block is part of our Southeast Asia resource development cluster strategy," adding, "Along with Vietnam, China, and Malaysia, where we are already actively pushing projects, we will also grow Indonesia into a global core resource development base."