SK Earthon, the energy and resource development subsidiary of SK Innovation, announced on November 24 that it has acquired a 34 percent stake in the promising North Ketapang exploration block in Indonesia and will begin full-scale resource exploration.
The acquisition was finalized on November 23 through a purchase from Petronas North Ketapang Ltd. Following the deal, SK Earthon will jointly explore the block together with Petronas North Ketapang Ltd., which holds 51 percent, and Pertamina North Ketapang Ltd., which owns 15 percent.
The North Ketapang block is located offshore in northeastern Java and is considered to have strong future potential, as crude oil has already been discovered in new layers beyond the existing production zone.
“SK Earthon decided to pursue this acquisition after independently evaluating the block’s development potential and economic viability as part of its strategy to expand resource development in Indonesia,” an SK Earthon representative said. “Petronas brings more than 30 years of experience in global resource development projects, while Pertamina has deep expertise in Indonesian field operations, creating strong synergy among the three companies.” The partners aim to commence exploratory drilling by the end of this year.
SK Earthon now holds stakes in three exploration blocks in Indonesia, following earlier acquisitions of the Serpang and Binaiya blocks in a bid round last May. Serpang and North Ketapang are geographically close to each other offshore northeastern Java, boosting expectations for business synergy.
“This stake acquisition is part of our strategy to develop a Southeast Asia resource development cluster,” the SK Earthon official added. “We plan to grow Indonesia into a core global resource development base alongside Vietnam, China, and Malaysia.”
Meanwhile, SK Innovation is also actively pursuing CCS (carbon capture and storage) cooperation between Korea and Indonesia through SK Innovation E&S while expanding upstream investments in the region.
