ESDM Ministry announces winners for five oil and gas WK auctions

The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry announced the winners of the auction for five oil and gas working areas (WK), namely WK Kojo offshore Makassar Strait, WK Binaiya offshore Maluku, WK Serpang offshore East Java, WK Gaea in West Papua Province, and WK Gaea II in West Papua. The total investment commitment collected reached US$21.7 million (Rp364 billion at Rp16,800 per US$1).

"The total investment commitment for the first three years of exploration in the five WKs is US$21.7 million," said Acting ESDM Ministry Oil and Gas Director General Tri Winarno stated in a virtual announcement on Apr. 16, 2025.

Armada Etan Limited is the winner of the auction for WK Kojo, which has total estimated oil reserve of 90.2 million barrels of oil and 2.1 trillion cubic feet (ft³) of gas. The firm's total commitment for the first 3 years of exploration is US$2.1 million.

Next, a consortium of PT Pertamina subsidiary PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) subsidiary PC North Madura II, and SK Innovation Co., Ltd. subsidiary SK Earthon Co. won  the WK Binaiya auction, with their total commitment for the first thre years of exploration at US$6.5 million. The working area's oil and gas reserves are estimated to reach 6.7 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion ft³ of gas.

Then, the winner of the WK Serpang ​​auction is a consortium of PC North Madura II, INPEX Corporation, and SK Earthon Co, with their total commitment for the first three years of exploration reaching US$4.7 million. The total estimated oil and gas reserves of the working area reaches 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 6.3 trillion ft³ of gas.

Finally, the winner of the auctions for WK Gaea I and WK Gaea II is a consortium of Enquest Petroleum Production Malaysia, PT Agra Energi, BP Exploration Indonesia, MI Berau, CNOOC Southeast Asia Limited, ENEOS Xplora, Indonesia Natural Gas Resources Muturi, and KG Wiriagar Petroleum.

The total commitment for the first three years of exploration in WK Gaea I reaches US$4.95 million, with the working area's estimated oil and gas reserves reaching 9.6 billion barrels of oil and 71.8 trillion ft³ of gas. Meanwhile, the total commitment for WK Gaea II is US$3.45 million for the estimated oil and gas reserves of 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 35.1 trillion ft³ of gas.