Publications

There has recently been a renaissance in global exploration, which has been driven by large deepwater discoveries in frontier and established basins. However, this wave of deepwater success dampened to a ripple in Indonesia, despite 15 deepwater wildcats being drilled in frontier basins between 2009 and 2011. Historically, Indonesia has been a relatively lowcost province, but the price tag for the average deepwater well in 2011 was higher than the global average. Most of these high-cost wildcats have been unsuccessful and some large US players are signalling their intent to abandon exploration in the country’s frontiers. The next few years could be crucial in determining the future for deepwater exploration and sets a challenge for the government of Indonesia. It needs to provide fiscal conditions that encourage operators to persist in their activity.