Kutubu Oil Field

Summary Information

• Operator: Santos
• Country: Papua New Guinea
• Location: Southern highlands
• Production start: 1992
• Partners:
• Type: Oil
• Estimated Reserves:
• Production Volume:

+++ Description

• The Kutubu Oil Project, which was Papua New Guinea's first commercial oilfield development, is located in the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea
• The Kutubu development comprises a network of wells that produce oil from the Iagifu-Hedinia, Usano and Agogo fields, a gathering system and on-site processing facilities (the Agogo and Central Processing Facilities) and supporting infrastructure, as well as a 265 kilometre export pipeline to the coast and a marine loading terminal in the Gulf of Papua
• The Kutubu crude oil is a light, sweet 45 degree API oil and is sold as part of the "Kutubu Blend" together with Moran and Gobe crudes

+++ Contractors

• -

+++ History

• 1986 - Oil was first discovered at Kutubu
• 1992 - Commercial production commenced
• 1998 - BP sells its share of the field to Oil Search
• 2003 - Oil Search acquires Chevron's share
• 2021 - Santos and Oil Search merged making Santos the operator

+++ Geology

• The main reserves are contained within high permeability oil rims in the Toro and Digimu sandstones with smaller volumes in the Iagifu and Hedinia reservoirs

+++ Links

1. Oil Search, Kutubu
2. BP Sells Papua New Guinea Assets for $400 Million
3. OIL SEARCH LIMITED Acquires ChevronTexaco’s Interests in Papua New Guinea
4. Santos And Oil Search Merger Becomes Effective