Jakarta, Indonesia: Italian energy giant Eni has announced a "major" discovery of natural gas off Indonesia's coast, which the government said would triple the European company's production in the country by 2028.
The Southeast Asian archipelago already produces more gas than it uses, with rising demand for the commodity widely used for cooking, heating and electricity generation.
In a statement late Monday, Eni said preliminary estimates indicated the site some 70 kilometres (43 miles) off the coast of East Kalimantan province held about 5.0 trillion cubic feet of gas and 300 million barrels of condensate, a liquid hydrocarbon.
The new find, it added, "unlocks significant new volumes for domestic and international markets".
The government said the find could boost Eni's peak production to 2,000 million standard cubic feet per day by 2028 and to 3,000 MMSCFD two years later.
It is between 600 and 700 MMSCFD today.
"This is a giant discovery. In addition to gas, by 2028 we will also be producing roughly 90,000 barrels of condensate. And in 2029-2030 that could increase further to 150,000 barrels," according to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia.
Higher condensate production will likely reduce oil imports, a government statement quoted him as saying.
Like many nations, Indonesia has come under pressure from soaring global energy prices since the Middle East war broke out.
