Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) hasย enlarged its Asian portfolio with two exploration blocks in Indonesia.
Tangguh LNG; Source: BP
As its wholly owned subsidiaries have entered into two production sharing contracts (PSCs) for exploration blocks in Indonesia with SKK Migas, subsidiaries of other Tangguh partners, EnQuest, and Agra, CNOOC is getting access to the Gaea and Gaea II exploration blocks, located both onshore and offshore in southern Papua Barat Province, in proximity to the Tangguh LNG project.
Covering an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometers, the two blocks come with a three-year first stage of the exploration period, based on the terms of the PSCs. The Indonesian government confirmed the winning bidders for these exploration blocks in April 2025.
The Tangguh partners, encompassing BP, MI Berau, ENEOS Xplora, CNOOC Southeast Asia, Indonesia Natural Gas Resources Muturi, and KG Wiriagar Petroleum, jointly hold 40% non-operating interests, of which the wholly owned subsidiaries of the company hold 5.56% interests in the two blocks.
While EnQuest holds a 40% operating interest in each of these blocks, Agra holds 20% non-operating interests. Saipem confirmed the first steel-cutting ceremony a few days ago for the BP-operated Tangguh UCC project at its fabrication yard in Indonesia. This project entails the production of natural gas resources from Ubadari and transportation to an onshore LNG plant for a CO2 separation process.
Meanwhile, CNOOC is set on boosting its oil and gas reserves both at home and abroad, as illustrated by its recent hydrocarbon discovery in the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea.
The Chinese player alreadyย earmarked up to $19 billionย to expand itsย oil and gas production in 2025 andย harness more offshore wind and onshore solar, alongsideย other low-emission developments and technologies to optimizeย its hydrocarbonย business.
๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐!
๐๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ!