Medco E&P Natuna Ltd (MEPN), together with PT Meindo Elang Indah (MEI), held an inauguration ceremony for the Topside Load Out & Sail Away (LO & SA) of the Well Head Platform (WHP) construction for the West Belut Project. This project is located offshore in the South Natuna Sea Block B.

With the inauguration held on Thursday (18/7/2024), the West Belut Field is expected to commence production in September 2024. The Topside LO & SA, or the loading and sail-away of the topside, is a critical process in offshore platform construction projects within the Oil and Gas industry. This process marks a crucial stage where the upper module (topside) of the platform has completed fabrication and is ready for transport from the fabrication site to the West Belut field location.

The inauguration, held at the Meitech Bintan Topside fabrication site in the Riau Islands, was attended by the Head of the Project Management Department of SKK Migas's Project Management Division, Noezran Azwar; the Regional Head of the Riau Islands Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Priyono Triatmojo; the Head of the Tanjung Pinang Customs and Excise Office, Tri Hartana; and the Head of the BP Bintan Area, Farid Irfan Sidik.

Also present were MEPN's Senior Manager of Offshore Project Delivery, Sunu B Wusono; MEPN West Belut Project Manager, Ilham Thamrin; VP of Supply Chain Management, Kenneth Gunawan; Senior Manager of Material Management, Felix Tunggul Nadapdap; Manager of Material & Formalities, Joko Arisanto; VP of Operations at MEI, Bambang Sutjipto; and Meindo West Belut Project Manager, Yudi Arisandi.

VP of Relations & Security at MEPN, Arif Rinaldi, stated that the Topside LO & SA inauguration signifies that the West Belut Topside Platform has completed its fabrication process and is being moved from the fabrication location to be loaded onto the vessel.

“The fabrication, LO & SA processes were able to proceed safely and smoothly thanks to the excellent cooperation and collaboration between MEPN and the EPCI contractor, as well as the support from SKK Migas, MIGAS, the Customs and Excise team, and other stakeholders,” said Arif.

Arif explained that the West Belut Project is a development of the West Belut Field, located offshore in the South Natuna Sea Block B. It is situated at a sea depth of about 100 meters and is approximately 14 km southwest of the North Belut Central Processing Platform (NB-CPP).

Separately, the Head of the SKK Migas Representative for Northern Sumatra, Rikky Rahmat Firdaus, stated that the production facility, located in the offshore Anambas and Natuna oil and gas working areas, holds strategic value as it is situated at the forefront of the outer border of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), supporting the nation's resilience and border sovereignty.

The Upstream Oil and Gas Industry in these outermost regions and sea waters has become part of the economic zone as well as the national defense, bordering neighboring countries in the South China Sea.

Rikky explained that the planned onstream of the West Belut project is a tangible commitment from the Cooperation Contract Contractor (KKKS) Medco EP Natuna to the State in terms of investment and accelerating national oil and gas production.

This project has achieved significant results in fulfilling the National Oil and Gas Production Long Term Plan (LTP) under the initiatives of "Improving Existing Asset Value" and "Transformation to Production," which aligns with the national production target of 1 million barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and 12,000 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of gas by 2030.