SundaGas Banda Unipessoal has entered a non-binding letter of intent with a drilling contractor for a jackup for an appraisal program on the Chuditch gas field in the Timor Sea offshore Timor-Leste.
The agreement allows the company to progress regulatory approvals, including preparation of the drilling safety case.
The rig, currently working in the region, should become available for Chuditch appraisal drilling in second-quarter 2025.
Subsequent entry into the definitive agreement, however, will remain subject to Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo (ANP), the upstream regulator acting on behalf of Timor-Leste’s Ministry for Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Timor-Leste.
The Chuditch production sharing contract is 185 km south of Timor-Leste, 100 km east of the producing Bayu-Undan gas-condensate field, and 50 km south of the proposed Greater Sunrise gas development.
It covers a 3,571-sq-km area, in water depths of 50 m to 100 m, and includes the Chuditch-1 gas discovery that Shell drilled in 1998. The well encountered gas in the Jurassic Plover formation on the flank of a large, faulted structure.
Chuditch-2 will be designed to confirm SundaGas’ assessment of the resources, with a drillstem test to establish potential flow rates for a future development. This could involve a standalone project or export of the gas to a third-party LNG facility.
