SundaGas granted environmental license for Chuditch gas appraisal drilling offshore Timor-Leste

The Timor-Leste government has awarded SundaGas Band Uinpessoal an environmental license for drilling of the planned offshore Chuditch-2 appraisal well in the TL-SO-19-16 production sharing contract (PSC) area.

SundaGas submitted final environmental impact statement and environmental management plan documents earlier this year, following consultations with the upstream regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo (ANP).

The environmental license, which is valid through March 9, 2028, includes certain conditions, mainly related to submission of a waste management plan to ANP prior to operations, and a post-drilling environmental survey.

The Chuditch PSC is 185 km south of Timor-Leste in the Timor Sea, 100 km east of the recently shut down Bayu-Undan Field and 50 km south of the potential Greater Sunrise development.

It covers a 3,571-sq-km area, in water depths of 50-100 m, and contains the Chuditch-1 gas discovery drilled by Shell in 1998.

According to SundaGas, that well encountered a 30-m gas column in the Jurassic Plover Formation on the flank of a large, faulted structure. The company subsequently undertook 3D seismic reprocessing, 2D regional seismic interpretation, and mapping and petroleum systems modeling to provide a regional context to the Chuditch Field.

In addition, a revised petrophysical and core evaluation of Chuditch-1 confirmed that the reservoirs are potentially gas productive. SundaGas also commissioned a well engineering study to provide preliminary designs for an appraisal well.