According to foreign media on August 26, the Indonesian oil and gas regulatory agency has approved the development plan for the Paus Biru offshore gas field in the East Java Basin.

The oil field is located in the three-state offshore block operated by Medco in the Madura Strait outside Madura Island, Indonesia. In addition to the Paus Biru oil field, offshore blocks also include Oyong and Wortel oil fields.

Cue Energy, a partner of the project, said that Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas has now approved the development of the oil field.

In December 2018, Ophir Energy discovered the oil field during the successful drilling of the Paus Biru-1 exploratory well. Medco became an operator after acquiring Ophir Energy in 2019.

The approved development plan includes a single-level development well with an unmanned wellhead platform (WHP) connected to an existing unmanned wellhead platform approximately 27 kilometers away from the Oyong oil field via a subsea pipeline.

Natural gas from Paus Biru will be transported through existing pipelines to a free onshore production facility operated by the Sampang PSC joint venture, where it will be processed. The joint venture company will now enter the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage and negotiate a natural gas sales agreement. The final investment decision for the development project is expected to be made in mid-2021, and the first batch of natural gas projects is expected to be launched by the end of 2022.

 Cue Energy CEO Matthew Boyall said: "The Paus Biru development plan will continue until fiscal 2021, and the final investment decision will be made in the fourth quarter. The first batch of natural gas is expected to be produced in 2022. This development will not only provide Cue Its own cash flow will also support and expand the existing production of Oyong and Wortel."