Abstract

The Udang field is located in the Natuna Sea, approximately 1,000 kilometers North of Jakarta. The discovery well was drilled in 1974. Udang field commenced production 18 January 1979. It now has 5 wells producing about 18,000 BOPD. A total of eleven wells are planned for the first platform.

Facilities installed now consist of a 4,500-ton drilling and production platform supported on eight piles driven 320 feet into the ocean floor. The platform, biggest in Indonesia, is connected by a 400-foot bridge to a flare tripod. Producing facilities capable of processing 40,000 barrels per day of high pourpoint crude are installed on the platform. Processed crude is pumped through dual insulated pipelines to the Udang Natuna, a 93,000 deadwegiht-ton tanker which is permanently moored 6,100 feet from the platform by a single point mooring system. Export tankers breast moor alongside the Udang Natuna to receive finished crude.

In spite of a tight schedule and the large scale of the project it was completed on time and within initial cost estimates. This paper summarizes the development of this remote field.