there is a proven technology on
Hydrocarbon exploration
can be cheaper
George Barber, Jakarta |
Opinion | Mon, November 24
2014, 9:45 AM
Opinion News
This article is written in
response to an article that
appeared in The Jakarta Post,
“Exploration for oil necessary
for Indonesia”, which was
written by Adjie Harisandi of
Mandiri Bank in Jakarta.
The article is not intended to
give details of the technology
available, neither is it intended
to explain how it does what it
does, the article is intended to
state that there is the technology
out there that could help to
solve some of Indonesia’s
energy exploration problems.
It is well-known that
exploration is expensive, time
consuming and a lot of the data
that is collected may well be in
vain.
What if I was to tell you that
have remained the same,
the market that can reduce the
time taken, reduce the cost and
has a higher than 60 percent
probability rate of success for
drill targets, compared to what
is currently common in the
market and has a rate of 20
percent or less?
There is technology available,
technology that has been
proven in many parts of the
world, and by proven, I mean
the exploration companies have
had positive results from the
recommendations and reports
that have been made.
The size and scale of seismic
surveys has increased alongside
significant concurrent increases
in computer power during the
last 25 years.
This has led the seismic
industry from laboriously —
and therefore rarely —
acquiring small 3D surveys in
the 1980s to now routinely
acquiring large-scale high-
resolution 3D surveys.
The goals and basic principles
surveyors found it hard to
although the methods have
changed very little over the
years.
The basic theory is still the
same, make a noise and listen
for the return, then interpolate
what has been received by
computer or by the trained eye;
at best, this could give a 20
percent assurance for a
company to go and drill, with a
very high probability of drilling
a dry hole.
The industry drills dry holes at
a higher rate than it would like
to (80-90 percent worldwide).
When I first started life as a
hydrographic surveyor, we still
positioned the vessel by sextant,
we interpolated what we had
collected by hand, a survey
used to take six months to
complete and six months to
draw by hand.
The introduction of
hydrographic software for data
collection and processing was a
dream come true for the new
surveyors, although the older
understand that a “Fair Sheet”
could be redrawn and edited as
many times as one liked.
But once everyone saw that you
could process data in real-time,
you could have the ships
working nine months of the
year instead of six months and,
most importantly, a more
accurate chart was produced
with more data than they knew
what to do with, it became
accepted.
I know this as I was at the
forefront of this technology as a
user who had to learn it.
The technology that is available
for pre-exploration surveys of
oil basins is similar to this; it is
the next frontier in pre-
exploration. Something clearly
needs to change, but are
geoscientists willing?
When a country goes to war, it
normally goes to war when it
knows it can defeat the enemy;
why would one go to war to
lose?
Therefore the question is, why
go out and obtain a block for
exploration when you are not
aware of what it contains?
Why spend millions of dollars
collecting data when we know
that 80 percent of the data will
be in vain? Why spend three to
five years collecting and
processing data when it could
be done in six months? Why
send drilling rigs to go and drill
at great expense with a 20
percent probability rate or less?
The answer is simple; you do
not need to. You do need to get
the most out of your seismic
dollar and the most out of your
drilling dollar in pre-
exploration.
A company will want to carry
out seismic surveys and drilling
in high probability areas and
not in maybe- or low-
probability areas.
The technology being used is
non-invasive, i.e. it is
environmentally friendly, on
land you do not need to cut
down swathes of trees to run
your seismic surveys, you do
not need to upset the local
community.
It is the author’s opinion, that
companies will spend money on
exploration if they do not have
to spend large amounts of
money collecting data with a
high risk of non-return.
Many of the items discussed in
the article “Exploration for oil
necessary for Indonesia” can be
addressed if a modern approach
is taken, which can only be
good for Indonesia.
Yes, there are doubters of all
things new, especially if it
changes the way that they are
used to doing things; however
change is good.
When satellites were first
launched for navigation, before
it became known as the Global
Positioning System (GPS),
when you only received two
passes a day instead of the
constant positioning we have
today, people doubted the
information given to them; they
all said that paper maps were
better.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/
Today, people trust GPS, no news/2014/11/24/hydrocarbon-
matter if the nice lady tells you exploration-can-be-
to turn left when it is a one-way cheaper.html
street.
Innovative explorers are
applying these alternative and
valuable analytics successfully,
why can Indonesia not do the
same?
___________
The size and scale of seismic
surveys has increased
alongside significant
concurrent increases in
computer power during the
last 25 years.
__________________
The writer, a hydrographic
surveyor by training
background, worked in the
Royal Navy for 24 years and
has been connected with
various exploration projects in
Indonesia over the past 22
years
Paper Edition | Page: 7
‘Tol laut’: From idea
to reality
Giffy Pardede, Jakarta | Opinion
| Thu, November 20 2014,
10:38 AM
Opinion News
When then presidential
candidate Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo ushered in the term tol
laut as one of his visions to
tackle transportation
complications, during a
televised debate in the
presidential campaign,
eyebrows were raised.
The “maritime highway”
concept, known technically as
short-sea shipping, is in essence
an alternative to land-freight
transportation, by moving cargo
along the coastline between
ports of close proximity.
Almost 40 percent of European
freight movement is by short-
sea shipping. This typically
uses a vessel of 4,000
deadweight tonnage, which is
equivalent to 100-200 trucks.
Would it be a good idea for
Indonesia? Absolutely. With the
ever-increasing congestion
facing road-based
transportation on the main
island of Java, short-sea
shipping would be an excellent
idea.
And not just to reduce the strain
of land-freight movement in
Java; we could greatly benefit
from being able to move
products from one island to
another.
Indeed, sea shipping is a key
piece of transportation
infrastructure that Indonesia
very much needs to improve.
But can we make it happen? We
could, but there are some areas
that we need to work on first.
First, we need to have more
public seaports. Yes, there are
government projects that are in
motion right now, and are
expected to be completed in the
next five years.
We have heard about the new
Cilamaya terminal in West Java,
expected to alleviate the burden
on Tanjung Priok port in
Jakarta.
We also understand that plans
are underway for general cargo,
container and bulk terminals to
be completed in Ambon,
Dumai, Teluk Bayur and
Makassar to name a few.
However, in order for short-sea
shipping to work, we will need
more public ports in close
proximity.
To do that, we will need capital.
If there is not any available, or
this is considered less of a
priority, we then must consider
pushing forward with public-
private partnerships. We have
actually laid out the
groundwork for it.
Government Regulation No. 61/
2009 has opened up such
possibilities. Concession
agreements can be entered by
the so-called port authorities
with private entities in order for
the latter to operate a port and
provide other services such as
stevedoring.
But to date, the much-needed
regulations regarding the
requirements and procedures
for granting and revoking
concessions have not been
issued.
Without it, the possibilities
contemplated by the regulation
are just a novel idea. It has been
five years since the regulation
was enacted and no concession
has been awarded.
Aside from seaports, we would
also need more ships. Short-sea
shipping would be an inter-
island service.
As such, cabotage rules would
apply. As such, only Indonesian
flagged ships are able to operate
within Indonesian waters.
Therefore, Indonesian shipping
companies will need to buy
more freighters.
Vessels are expensive, as such
financing is key. In turn, banks
will require security. This is
where we can and need to
improve. In Indonesia, the
security law that is applicable
for ships above seven gross
tonnage is hypothec, a security
arrangement that was once
dedicated to land, and is rooted
deep within our Civil Code, a
source of law inherited from the
Dutch colonial era, first
introduced in 1847.
Like security over land that was
reconstituted into Hak
Tanggungan (Security Titles) in
1996 in the shape of Law No.
4/1996, vessel mortgages could
also use some freshening up.
Fast and easy registration,
simplified enforcement
procedures and the possibility
of “ship arrest” without needing
to wait for the vessel to berth in
a port are just a few of the
things that are lacking in vessel-
based security.
There are serious obstacles in
achieving the above. By
granting concessions to private
port operators, it would
somewhat impact the monopoly
that state-owned port operator
Pelindo has over business.
It may seem wrong to state this,
but the monopoly is there for a
reason. Port operation is a
strategic industry, and thus
there is room to argue that the
business must be controlled by
the state.
By granting concessions to
private entities, we are also
opening up the possibility of
foreign direct investment,
which is always a sensitive
issue.
As for a new law for vessel
security, one thing comes to
mind. A lot of work. And with
the current state that lawmakers
are in, the two do not seem to
be a good match.
As a business-legal consultancy
working in Jakarta, we
sometimes see differently to the
government. By granting
concessions, we see healthy
competition for Pelindo —
which would benefit its
customers.
We foresee the influx of foreign
and local joint-venture capital
into key infrastructure pieces.
The benefits will outweigh the
concerns in the long run. during the presidential debate.
Private capital, proven Port operation is a strategic
experience and expertise, industry, and thus [...] the
foreign or otherwise, would business must be controlled by
surely bring benefits to the the state.
table. If we want to, we could
always set stiffer rules, such as ______________
a build-operate-transfer
measure to ensure control and The writer is a senior associate
ownership after the end of a at Ali Budiardjo Nugroho
concession period, and foreign Reksodiputro law firm. This
divestment rules that apply over article is personal opinion.
time, for example.
Paper Edition | Page: 7
As for vessel security, an
implementing regulation issued http://www.thejakartapost.com/
by the line-ministry can also news/2014/11/20/tol-laut-
work for the time being — until from-idea-reality.html
we have a new law in place to
accommodate the principles
enshrined in our Civil Code.
There are already firm steps
being taken by local and foreign
investors for ports on the
northern coast of Java.
A few even have plans to
integrate the ports with
industrial estates, warehousing,
railway access and power
plants. It would be a shame if
we only heard the term tol laut