Indonesia to Sell One of World's Largest Undeveloped Gas Fields

The Indonesian government plans to put the East Natuna gas field up for auction, Indonesian Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif announced on Thursday.

Located in the South China Sea, the East Natuna gas block is considered to be the world's biggest undeveloped gas field with estimated gas reserves of 222 trillion cubic feet (6.3 trillion cubic meters).

Gas companies faced difficulties developing the field as it has a high CO2 content of 70%.

"We are again discussing auctioning the (East Natuna) gas block, as all this carbon that was once a problem could be used now," Tasrif was quoted by the Dunia Energi news portal as saying, adding that now many firms had the necessary technologies to develop the gas field.

In addition, the minister pointed out that the development of the East Natuna field would have a dramatic impact on Indonesia’s economy and regional gas market.

The gas field was discovered in 1973. Seven years later, Indonesian state-owned Pertamina and Exxon created a joint venture (JV) to develop the field, but eventually the project was not completed due to the high CO2 content, with the two companies parting ways in 2007.