KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): Offshore energy services provider Bumi Armada Bhd (KL:ARMADA) has secured full operating interest in the Jalu Working Area in the North Sumatra Basin, Indonesia, which has significant hydrocarbon potential, for gas exploration.

The group said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Armada Jalu BV (AJBV), has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia for the newly designated Jalu exploration block, located in the Andaman Sea, northeast Aceh.

The Jalu PSC is estimated to hold about 2.9 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas resources, according to the Indonesian government’s estimation. TCF is the unit used to measure massive amounts of natural gas.

Bumi Armada plans to acquire new 3D seismic data and to integrate it with the existing sub-surface data to evaluate the potential for development.

It said the PSC aligned with its strategy to develop oil and gas discoveries by using a floating production storage and offloading vessel or FSPO, with either a floating liquefied natural gas or pipeline. “This leverages Bumi Armada’s core expertise of providing and operating floating production systems,” the group added.

The Jalu PSC covers an area of 3,942.62 square kilometres, with water depths ranging from 100 to 1,250 metres below sea level. It will be the group's third PSC in Indonesia, after the Akia PSC in offshore North Kalimantan within the Tarakan Basin, and the Kojo PSC in offshore Makassar Strait that is located in the basin situated between South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

Shares in Bumi Armada were unchanged at 37 sen on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.19 billion.